Reinforced Revelations
by Lupine Horror
Summary: Sequel to Reinforced Chamber. Now into his third year of magical education, things are beginning to heat up for Harry. There are events going on beyond his control, and danger dogs his steps. Will Harry last this year as easily as his last two? Only time will tell. This is fan fiction, I only own the plot.
1. Trouble Abroad

AN: A new book, and already I'm diving into things that are _very_ different to canon. I hope my representation of the Potters is alright, and shows them, not as evil, monstrous individuals, but as people who did something that they're not entirely proud of, and there's some fear mixed in with apprehension, confusion, worry, regret, and some anger. It's going to be a complicated situation with the Potters, not the straight up 'bashing' that most alive Potter stories tend towards. They'll be bad feelings, name calling, and finger pointing on both sides, and there _will_ be consequences for actions, some quite big ones as well. Also, may I please have some suggestions for how Harry might go about revealing the Potters, perhaps some reasons, pros, and cons as well? It can be anything from simply teleporting them into the Atrium of the London Ministry, to setting Skeeter on them, to forcing them into the light by going to the papers, or anything. Whatever you can think of would no doubt be helpful as inspiration, thank you.

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 01 – Trouble Abroad

"Caw!"

A red-haired woman jerked in surprise as a crow cawed loudly from the nearby tree. She shivered slightly in a cold breeze that blew past her, pulling at the edges of her skirt, before frowning down at the cup of tea in her hands, specifically the crack in it.

"Perhaps I gripped it too hard." She muttered, before tapping it with her wand and fixing it.

Deciding to return indoors, and not liking the way that crow was looking at her, she returned indoors. She quickly drank the remainder of her tea, before placing the cup in the sink, and leaving the dishes to wash themselves.

She then headed into the living room, where she found her husband with her eldest child, her son Brian. She smiled as she saw him eating up the lessons James, her husband, was giving him.

"How are things going, dear?" She asked.

"Brilliant, Lily-flower." James grinned back. "But of course he'd be wonderful, he is my son after all."

Lily shook her head. "_Our_ son, James, I'd like to think that some of my own brilliance was passed on to my children."

James was about to reply when an explosion of some kind rocked the house. Contrary to what you might expect, none of those present even flinched at it, explosions being all too common where their daughter, Rose. James did frown when Lily glanced over her shoulder though.

"Something the matter?" He asked.

"Nothing really." Lily sighed. "I just have this... bad feeling, like something's going to happen soon."

"You got this same sort of feeling when all that money disappeared too, didn't you?" James scowled.

"Yes, but it's just a coincidence, I'm sure. You know very well what I think of _Divination_." Lily replied.

"Still, I can't believe that... that _thing_ stole from us like that." James spat.

"What thing, dad?" Brian asked, wondering what his parents were upset about.

"Nothing for you to worry about, sweetie." His mother smiled at him. "Why don't you have a slice of the chocolate cake I baked earlier, and ask your sister if she wants some too."

"Okay." Brian grinned, before running out of the room.

Lily sighed and collapsed into a chair, a forlorn expression coming over her face. "I still can't believe we did something as _disgusting_ as that." She said. "My own child, turned into a magical _bomb._ I know he didn't even get to live a day, that he was dead before I'd even birthed him, but he was still my own child."

James wrapped one arm around Lily's shoulders, pulling her close. "Shh, don't think about it." He murmured. "Voldemort was coming after us anyway, and we did what we could to survive. If we'd left nothing behind, we could so easily have been found out. As it was, we managed to get rid of the bastard, at least for a while."

Tears streamed out from between Lily's eyelids. "B-but James! Think about it, Voldemort is walking around wearing the corpse of our own child! He wasn't meant to live, he was meant to die, putting an end to him and all of the bad things that were happening."

"We would have finished the job ourselves, but we couldn't find where Voldemort hid himself, remember?" James comforted the woman. "Don't worry about it, someone will take care of him for us, and wouldn't it be ironic if one of the Death Eaters killed their own master, thinking they were actually killing _his_ enemy?"

"I- I know, but when I keep thinking back to _that_ day, when we found out about... it, I just can't help but think that we failed somehow." Lily quietly sobbed into her husband's shoulder.

James was silent as he fell into memories of back then too. He remembered how, up there in Canada, they'd read the news spreading all over the world. Voldemort was dead, and that was reason to celebrate. Granted, he had never moved out of Britain, not even into Europe as a whole, but still the international magical communities had kept an eye on him, just in case.

Of course, along with that news came a second surprise for the Potter family, though they were going by Lily's family name of Evans while in Canada. Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, someone that shouldn't exist. Both Lily and James remembered how torn up they'd both been about using their deceased child's corpse as a weapon, but it had been necessary.

Even if one ignored the prophecy, which James wasn't entirely willing to do, Voldemort still had to be taken down by _someone_. What better way to do that risk free than to use someone already dead? Hey, the kid fulfilled the requirements of the prophecy, and if interpreted right, it would make sense.

So, rather unwillingly, Lily and James had dived into Necromancy. Not out of any desire to really raise the dead or anything like that, but it was the only branch of magic that would allow them to simulate life, bringing their trap into being.

The flesh golems of Lily and himself had been pretty unpleasant to make. Afterwards, they had the memories of the two of them copied into the golems' heads, minus the bit about them being created of course, just in case Voldemort tried using Legilimency on them. They had enchanted the golems, directing them to act as necessary, but not yet activating them, and then moved onto the most difficult and unpleasant part of the trap.

Turning their stillborn child's corpse into a magical explosive was very hard on Lily and James, especially the ritual they used to bring false life to it, different from the flesh golems, and all the more repulsive for it. Lily had nearly broken down numerous times, and James often found himself working on it alone while his wife saw to the needs of their living son, Brian.

I'm sure you can picture their surprise when they heard about their dead son's moniker. After all, he wasn't alive, and he really shouldn't have been in one piece after that explosion. Of course, hearing that Voldemort had 'died' there, they came to the conclusion that Voldemort's body had been destroyed, and now the monster was somehow possessing the corpse of their child.

That'd torn Lily up really badly, and James had tried to comfort her as best he could. Nine months after that, Rose had been born on the first of August Nineteen Eighty-two. Lily cheered up immensely at the birth of her daughter, with her becoming something of a focus for the woman.

They had raised their two children together in Canada, always keeping an ear out for more information from Britain. They expected it would take Voldemort a while to get himself a proper body back, and then his reign of terror would return. It didn't though, ten years passed before they heard anything new about Voldemort.

The newspaper they received had a picture of 'Harry' in it, and the unnatural streak of silver in his straight black hair was taken as further proof that something was up. Obviously, Voldemort's own soul was eroding the container, and that silver streak of hair was just one of the signs that everyone else was ignoring.

The next important bit of news came two-fold. First, they saw what 'Harry' looked like without his hair covering half his face, and the horrific scarring was just further proof that Voldemort's soul was damaging its container, the red eye being the cherry on top of the cake. Second, the human-form familiars that he'd apparently created from a unicorn and a raven. It seemed Voldemort's depravity knew no depths, having turned a pure and innocent creature into a minion of his own perverse desires.

On top of that, when next James had gone to withdraw money from the family vault, he found that the numbers didn't add up, and that a rather substantial chunk of gold had gone missing. When he asked about this, he was informed that it was simply a refill of his son's trust vault.

James had been confused by this, as he knew that Brian had made no such withdrawals, until he found the name attached to the trust fault to be 'Harry'. Well, he'd put a stop to that immediately, cancelling any more transactions between the two accounts and shutting down the trust vault for 'Harry', though he couldn't for the life of him work out just how that vault had been set up in the first place.

Things had quietened down after that, until August Nineteen Ninety-two that was. The photo in the Daily Prophet, of Harry Potter throwing Gilderoy Lockhart through a window, had the focus of both Potters currently hidden as the Evans family, especially with the black aura around the arm that had done the throwing, that was _so_ not natural.

Now they were simply waiting for Voldemort to show the world who he truly was, and then watch as the bastard wearing their son's skin was punished for everything he had done. They had considered going public with what they knew, but the parental parts of their minds refused to come out into the open, if only to keep Brian and Rose hidden from Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

James sighed. "I wonder what Sirius is doing now?" He wondered aloud. "I wonder if someone's managed to actually put a collar on that mutt and taught him to sit."

Please note, with everything that happened immediately following Voldemort's 'demise', newspapers, their contents, and their distribution was messed up for a while, so James and Lily don't actually know that their friend is in Azkaban, supposedly for betraying them and causing their deaths.

Lily dried her eyes a little. "Do you ever regret cutting off all contact with everyone over there? I sometimes find myself wondering how Stacy and Leigh-Anne are doing. I heard that Alice is in the permanent section of Saint Mungo's though, poor girl."

"If we did start making connections back there, it would only make it easier for Voldemort to find us again, and as long as we still have Brian and Rose to look after, that is something I refuse to do. Besides, we've got a life here now, a comfortable, peaceful-" James pulled Lily into his lap, earning a squeak from the woman. "-wonderful life."

They leaned in to kiss each other.

Then another explosion rocked the house.

Lily sighed. "Our daughter really needs to get a different hobby."

xxxxx

Harry yawned to himself, before opening his eyes.

He was currently staying in Uminari, and was actually considering purchasing a house there. It wouldn't be too difficult, as long as he had the money then the magical side didn't really care about how old he was or anything like that. Of course, upkeep would be all on him, but with the use of some runes, it wasn't all that difficult to get the amenities.

He knew he was always welcome with the Takamachis, the Harlaowns, and Hayate, but he kind of wanted his own place, and Japan was as good as anywhere else on the planet. It wasn't like he didn't have the money for it either. What with him trading gold and silver back and forth between Gringotts and several administrated worlds, his reserves of money were finite, but large.

He went to get up and out of bed, but found himself stuck.

Harry just sighed as he found himself sandwiched between Isis and Reinforce. The unicorn was a big believer in 'skinship', and took every opportunity to be as close to him as possible, and it would be hard to miss how possessive of him Reinforce had gotten at times, and increasingly so over the last half a year or so.

Harry also found a weight on his legs that, when he looked, turned out to be Bast. Said cat familiar also tried to be as close to him as possible, claiming that she could only protect him if she was nearby. Heck, the only time Bast really left his presence was to train, he'd actually had to stop her following him into the bathroom a couple of times.

"Are you awake, master?" Bast asked, noticing Harry shifting around.

Harry gave the cat-girl a look and raised an eyebrow as he wriggled out from between Isis and Reinforce. "Did you sleep, Bast?"

"Yes, I did." She replied, though judging by how tired she looked, Harry was willing to bet she hadn't slept very much, preferring to stay awake and keep an eye on him while he slept.

"Bast, what have I told you about getting sufficient amounts of rest?" Harry sighed. "Never mind that now, transform and take a nap in my arms." Seeing her about to protest, Harry gave her the best glare he could. "Now, Bast. Your health is important too."

Bast just looked at the floor, her ears drooping in a way that Harry would call cute. Not that he'd say that out loud, or Bast would probably try and turn that 'cuteness' into a weapon to defend him somehow. Of course, having seen how Bast always managed to get things to work in the end, he wouldn't be surprised if she managed it. It was a quirk of the catgirl's that, no matter what she attempted, she would somehow succeed, even if it was not in the manner she had intended.

Bast transformed into a black cat, which Harry proceeded to scoop up into his arms, stroking her gently and eliciting a contented purr from the feline. Harry couldn't help but smile down at her, amused at how easy it was to turn her into a purring lump of pleasure.

"Mmm, Harry?" Rein murmured, waking up now that the teddy bear she'd been snuggling was no longer there.

"Yes, Rein, it's morning, time to get up." Harry nudged her with a foot.

"Harry, I can see the clock from here, it's six am." Rein grumbled.

Harry smiled at that, happy that Reinforce was comfortable enough to protest things and not act like a tool or the like. Having read up on Unison Devices in the Infinite Library, and how a fair number of them ended up bloodthirsty, or believing themselves to only have a use in war, he enjoyed seeing Rein act like a relatively normal person.

"If you want to go back to sleep for a while, you can. I'm sure Isis will be fine being a replacement hug pillow for me." He chuckled. "I'm just off to get some morning practise, and from the sound of it, Loki's already up too."

Indeed, the sound of Loki's soft footsteps could be heard, and a moment later, said familiar poked his head into the room.

"Ready for a sparring session?" Loki asked, getting a grin from Harry in reply.

Reinforce considered coming along to watch or join in, but found herself pulled back into bed by a still sleeping Isis, who wrapped her arms and legs tightly around the Unison Device.

She rolled her eyes. "I'll see you at the Harlaowns' place later, when you give them the last of those aptitude tests."

xxxxx

Loki stood with his device, Fenrir, in his hands, across from Harry, eyeing him warily.

When they found out that Harry was primarily a support style mage, with a penchant for summoning, most believed that getting up close and personal with him, and engaging in close combat would guarantee them a victory, but unfortunately for them, they would find Harry to be a rather different sort of summoner.

For starters, he actually took the time to practise fighting with a weapon in hand. While he was no expert, and experienced enemies would still overcome him in a straight forward weapons duel, he could still hold his own. He also had a few underhanded tricks that he was not afraid to use, and use them he would.

On top of that, Loki was unsure just how far Harry had come with his animagus transformation. He knew that Harry could replace his skin with dragon hide, his hands with claws, and even switch his eyes out, but he did _not_ know whether Harry could manage a full transformation yet.

If that wasn't enough, there was the second aspect of Harry's device to consider, the booster. With that, he could boost either his strength, speed, mana capacity, or a number of other things, though thankfully only one at a time.

All in all, while Harry was not a close quarters specialist, he could more than hold his own.

Of course, Loki wasn't someone to ignore either. He probably had ten times as many dirty tricks as Harry did, and while Harry had been training his battlefield awareness and rapid decision making, he had gone all out in improving his reactions and striking speed.

Loki, though, was not _meant_ to fight head on, but as a trap specialist, a deceiver. His illusions weren't as good as Harry's, but they were more than passable. He'd also taken a leaf out of Harry's book, regarding the bag of pebbles his master used to carry on him, and had prepared a number of pre-set traps that he could set up in a handful of seconds.

If Loki and Harry worked together, their skills meshed rather well, and with the overlap, they made quite a devastating combination. It was against each other, however, that their skills really shone. With an opponent that fought and thought like them, they needed to bring out their best to win, and they would have it no other way.

Harry grinned.

"Support skill: Fog of War!" He cried out, activating one of the cards in his right bracer, before disappearing in a Sonic Move.

Loki didn't move from his position, simply waiting, watching, while dense fog covered the area. Harry's card, 'Fog of War', did more than the name might imply. True, it did summon up an immense, thick fog, reducing visibility to a bare few metres, but it went a bit further than that too.

It disrupted communications, distorted sound, emitted random scents, and even released a weak chemical to further disorient and confuse enemies. Thankfully, Loki was already familiar with the fog, and so had built up a resistance to the chemicals, preventing his senses from becoming even more screwed up, and him from developing a light headache. Still, the fog was a lot of trouble.

The raven familiar's sharp eyes spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. A small insect, normally nothing noteworthy, but Loki's eyes saw it for what it really was, part of Harry's Beelzebub swarm, and so he cursed. Harry's golems would not be affected by the fog's disorientating properties, the card having actually been created to compliment Beelzebub in particular.

Of course, Loki wasn't without his own tricks.

"Double Team." He said, and suddenly where there had been one Loki, now there was a dozen that scattered in different directions. Double Team was a technique which created several 'copies' of the caster, some of them being completely illusionary, others being basic golems.

All of the Lokis spread out, randomly pulling things out of a pouch on his waist and dropping them on the floor. A closer inspection would reveal these to be pebbles, each of them covered in dozens upon dozens of runes. Each one of these pebbles, the real ones at least, were complex traps.

One of the Lokis flickered and faded, while another exploded into fragments of earth as two bolts of lightning erupted out of the fog and hit them. It seemed Harry was using a low ranked elemental spell in addition to the fog card in his right bracer. Now Loki only needed to know what the third card he had prepared was, and which shield spell he had loaded and he might be able to plan out a way to take Harry down.

He had to duck low to avoid one of the Beelzebub wasps. The real Loki had disillusioned himself while the golems and illusions laid out traps, though how well those would work with the swarm observing everything was debatable. Still, he was patient, he could wait.

While he waited, he decided to take a closer look at the nearest wasp. He wanted to know what spell Harry had summoned them with. Usually, he used some form of stunning spell, but not always. Other common ones for him to use were the body bind curse, blinding hex, trip jinx, and confundus, in non-lethal spars at least. In an actual battle, Harry was more likely to use piercing, cutting, severing, and several elemental spells too.

The swarm did not have their stingers active, so they weren't glowing with any particular colour which would give away what spell they had spawned with, though Loki was thinking the body bind was the most likely of his non-lethal arsenal, there was no way Harry would use anything potentially fatal on him.

Well, nothing that would cause permanent injury at least. Harry wasn't bothered by a few broken bones, a bit of blood loss, bruised organs, or similar minor injuries that could be healed up within minutes, and he expected his sparring partners to hold themselves to the same standards.

There was a reason _why_ Harry and his familiars had improved so rapidly, and it was because they trained _hard_.

BOOM!

'Ah, what the hell?!' Loki mentally cried, watching black orbs of some sort falling from the sky and randomly exploding around him. He didn't recognise this as one of the cards Harry had creat-

'I forgot that Harry also has a device to cast with, didn't I?' Loki commented dryly to himself, before performing evasive manoeuvres, manoeuvres made all the more difficult when suddenly all of the Beelzebub suddenly locked onto where he was, despite his disillusionment charm holding strong.

'How are they seeing me?' He wondered, destroying a few that flew at him with glowing blue stingers. 'I know the disillusionment charm I cast covers me in the spectrum outside visible light, and I made sure thermal vision would be useless against me, so how is he doing this?'

Loki's eyes widened as another explosion went off, and the wasps focused back on him more accurately. 'Of course! Harry isn't using this minor bombardment spell to chase me out of hiding, he's using it to cause shock waves! The vibrations travel differently through different materials, and even if I am invisible, I'm still solid. Clever, master, very clever.'

Loki's instinct had him throwing himself to the ground to avoid a pencil thick, purplish-black beam, a standard shot from Harry's device when in sniper mode. Seeing as the raven familiar still couldn't see through the fog, he could only assume that Harry was using Beelzebub as some sort of targeting system.

"Just how many uses do those damn wasps have?!" Loki yelled into the fog, knowing his own advantages had been negated.

A chuckle was his reply. "Enough." Harry called back, though from where couldn't be determined, especially with the fog's distortion effect messing with sound. "How many traps did you and your 'Double Team' copies manage to lay down, my wasps have managed to find forty-three of them."

Loki shrugged, before calling back. "I personally laid down fourteen, no idea about how many my solid copies put down though."

"Isn't it risky to have your doubles place traps and you not know where they are? That's something you should really get sorted out." Harry replied.

Loki chuckled. "They're _rune_ traps, Harry, they'll only go off if the conditions are met. This set is one of my sparring ones, the regular set won't react to the magical signature of any of us, unless I set them off manually myself, that is."

"Good, but you really shouldn't get distracted." Harry's voice came from right behind him, his device, now in the form of a scythe, rested with its blade at his throat.

"Nor should you." 'Loki' shot back, before crumbling into dirt as another two Lokis appeared at either side of him with their blades crossed on either side of his neck. "Some of those rune 'traps' are markers that allow me to teleport between them, so it's not too difficult to switch myself with a clone if I'm stealthy enough. Your loss, Harry."

"Not yet it's not." Harry grinned. "You forget, Loki, runes is one of my best subjects, and while breaking the traps would take time, nothing is stopping me from reading them and working them out." 'He' said, before fading from view, turning out to be nothing more than a clone.

Loki went to 'hop' to another marker, getting away from whatever trap Harry was about to spring, and found himself immediately surrounded by more than fourteen hundred of Harry's Beelzebub wasps. He glanced down at his feet to see all of the 'marker' rune pebbles gathered together.

"Oh, bollocks." He managed to mutter, before the mass of metal insects descended on him, their stingers glowing with the body bind curse as they stung him, resulting in Harry's win.

The fog of war faded, and Harry recalled his summoned swarm in order for it to recharge and regenerate after the battle. He approached Loki, before applying the counter-curse, and then helping his familiar get shakily to his feet. Knight Armour may take the edge off of a magical attack, but the wasps stingers generated a small AMF that weakened that defence, and Loki _had_ just taken at least several hundred copies of the curse at once.

"Nice match." Loki shook Harry's hand. "Nothing up close and personal, and not one that really played to my skills, but it was good regardless. Mind telling me what that spell was you used to rain down those explosive orbs?"

Harry shrugged. "As should be obvious, I had Beelzebub loaded as a Golem Summon, Fog of War as a Support Skill, and Lightning as a Basic Attack skill. I also had my 'Coffin Shield' loaded in the shield slot." At this, Harry conjured up said shield, showing the shape for which it was named. "I also had Assassin's Cloak loaded as another Support Skill."

Loki nodded at that, knowing that 'Assassin's Cloak' was a mixture of stealth techniques, from sound dampening and silencing, to disillusionment and invisibility spells, to scent erasing spells, and even several spells that negated, or at least minimised, air movement and the like.

"And the spell?" Loki asked.

Harry shrugged. "Diabolic Rain." He told him. "Rein created it. It's rather simple, but it's also a rather great mana drain. It conjures up dozens of small Diabolic Emissions and rains them down on a target area. Not the most useful spell, especially with the mana cost, because the damage is spread out so thinly, but it worked for me here, didn't it?"

Loki snorted. "One, your reserves of mana are beyond ridiculous, so using up some of it on such a spell isn't a huge waste, especially with how efficiently you use it your style, and two, you weren't exactly using the spell for the damage, were you?"

Harry grinned sheepishly. "No, the Beelzebub wasps were picking up the differences in how the vibrations travelled, allowing me to pinpoint where you were, despite visibly hiding yourself from me. I guess I did kind of go overboard with my golems, huh?"

Loki simply smiled and shook his head, bopping Harry on the head as he did so. "It was a compliment, Harry. The more uses there are, and the more flexible they can be, the better they are, and the safer you will be. I'd rather you'd overdo something like this than produce sub-par golems, which will be liable to get you hurt or killed."

"True, but considering my golems will also be watching your back, along with Isis, Bast, and Rein, then I have all the motivation I need to make them to the best of my ability." Harry replied with a soft smile. "I don't know what I'd do without any of you, and yes, I mean you too, you annoyingly mischievous raven."

Loki grinned back, unrepentant. "You know you love me for it."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Like a brother, but that still doesn't stop me from wanting to throttle you on occasion."

Loki didn't verbally reply to that as he and Harry restored their sparring area back to good condition, though the light dancing in his eyes told a story of its very own.


	2. Ideas and Preparation

AN: Another chapter, yay! I'm not entirely sure how this 'book' is going to flow. I mean, I have ideas, I even have an ending I want to aim for, but I'm not going to force it. If that means I need to abandon a tonne of prep work I've done to make the story flow properly, then so be it. Still, I hope it doesn't come to that, as I hope to take my fic in a new and interesting direction, but like I said, it took a _lot_ of prep work to even attempt, so I hope I do it justice. You, my dear readers, simply need to, well, read, and hopefully enjoy, my newest chapter.

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 02 – Ideas and Preparation

Harry and Loki joined up with Bast, who had been watching them spar, before heading back to where they were staying. By this point, Isis would be up, and she would probably have breakfast waiting for them. The Unicorn, perverted tendencies aside, was becoming quite good with domestic skills such as cleaning, cooking, and the like.

Of course, Isis wouldn't be Isis if she didn't wear rather... suggestive outfits while she was performing said tasks.

Not for the first time, Harry contemplated purchasing a house in Japan. In fact, he decided to ask Loki what his opinion of that idea was, and see what Bast thought of it too, though if the kitty stuck true to form, she would simply agree with whatever Harry decided on.

"Hmm." Loki contemplated his answer for a moment. "I'd say that it was a good idea, but why not go a step further? You _could_ simply purchase some land and have your golems construct a house for you. That would be a lot cheaper, and you would know _exactly_ what went into it."

Harry's brow furrowed in thought. "Would that be practical though?" He asked. "I mean, yes, my Herakles golems would be rather suitable for the task, but it's not like I have a lot of experience with construction. I have no idea where to start really, and there's so many ways I could mess it up."

"Well, what goes into a house?" Loki threw out there. "Make sure the land is level, then start with the foundations, add the shell of a house and build on it, what's so difficult about that? With magic, everything becomes even easier, and I'm fairly sure that you have a few spells in the tome related to construction."

Harry blinked at that, before opening the tome and searching for anything relevant. "Huh, you're right. There's a spell here, an earth elemental one, used to manipulate the ground. According to the notes attached, it's from a Herbology book, specifically 'Your plants at home: Your own personal greenhouse', and it's used for preparing land for greenhouses."

A few moments later and Harry found that, yes, he actually _did_ have plenty of spells which would be useful in construction. From the previously mentioned one, to an alchemical array that would transform earth into bedrock, great for foundations. Then there were numerous wards that he'd copied from a number of books – and he'd have to look up laws regarding some of the ones he'd gotten from the restricted section – and there were even runic arrays that would produce water for baths and things like that.

"You know, I think you might have a point." Harry admitted. "Magic really does make everything a lot easier. I suppose... if everyone likes the idea, then I might start looking for land somewhere to build this place on, as well as necessary materials."

He chuckled then. "I'll also have to look up more laws. When I looked up laws in Japan, it wasn't with a mind to staying more permanently. On top of that, it might be an idea to check out what the political landscape is like, I don't know anywhere _near_ enough about what things would be like if I moved here."

"And you know about politics in Britain?" Loki raised an eyebrow.

Harry snorted. "Yeah, don't be too obvious about it and have lots of money." He frowned at that. "Actually, that's more accurate than I'd like it to be. The government there is run more by influence than it is by law, and unfortunately, money can buy influence."

"There's precious little we can actually do about that." Loki shrugged. "You _do_ have influence of your own, being both the 'Boy-Who-Lived' and the 'heir' of the Potter fortune. Of course, if the situation with the ones hidden away in Canada comes to light, then that influence might crash and burn, and badly at that."

Bast gripped Harry's sleeve at the grim tone of Loki's voice, causing said boy to blink for a moment, before he reached over and rubbed between her ears. He couldn't help but chuckle at the purring that emanated from the cat-girl after that.

"I'll protect you." Bast spoke up, though her voice was kept quiet. "No matter what."

"And I you." Harry responded. "However, Loki is right, things _might_ go badly, no matter how well we prepare, so having somewhere to go would be a good idea. Of course, if things do become _too_ bad, I'm sure Fawkes wouldn't be overly bothered taking us off planet."

"On the topic of the other Potters, what's going on with them?" Loki asked. "Have you planned everything out yet? You did go through what I saw and heard when I did my little infiltration, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Harry frowned. "While their claims do explain some things, it does seem rather like something's missing from it, no?" He shook his head. "Anyway, Amelia is going on 'holiday' to Canada in a week, Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot going with her, and Hound is just going to turn up as well, he says that I'm 'too interesting' to not keep an eye on."

Loki chuckled. "You know, I'd almost be worried he'd want to abduct and dissect you. It's a good thing that the Department of Mysteries apparently doesn't do that, outside of extreme circumstances at least, which you do not qualify for." Loki then seemed to contemplate something. "Two heads of department are good allies to have, do you think you could reach out to a few others? If you want to drag the Potters out into the light, then you're going to need more people on your side."

"There's not much I can do on that front." Harry sighed. "I _do_ have something of a reputation amongst the students at Hogwarts – what with that study group thing that sprang up – and they may have spoken to their parents and/or guardians about me, but that's the extent of that. I _have_ had direct contact with the Minister for magic, but Fudge seems the type to choose what is easy, rather than what is right, and he is just _so_ easy to manipulate."

"Of course, that's both a blessing and a curse." Loki nodded.

Harry rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Well, I have a week to put some sort of initial plan together. Now, let's see what Isis has cooked up for us, it smells good."

Loki nodded in agreement. "Indeed it does, and our spar has made me quite hungry."

A rumble from Bast's stomach made the two males laugh, before all three of them went inside.

xxxxx

A while later, Harry was sitting next to Lindy. In front of him, Hayate, Nanoha, and Fate were going through the last of the tests he'd put together for them. He ignored the voice in the back of his head giggling at the fact that a lot of theory questions had been lifted from OWL and NEWT exams.

Lindy leaned over to Harry and quietly asked. "What are you doing?"

Harry looked up from the Tome of Shadows in his hands. "Going through everything that's in here, and deciding which spells to practise next. While, after Chrono's comment, I've managed to link the Tome to my device, that doesn't mean anything if I don't know what spells I have available."

"Hmm, fair enough, I guess." Lindy's eyes flickered over the pages Harry was going through. "I suppose there's a lot of information to go through, especially seeing as your tome doesn't have an upper limit like the Tome of the Night Sky does. Heh, I'm sure Hayate would be jealous of that if she knew." She teased him with a grin.

Harry laughed softly. "I think Hayate is happy to have an entirely new branch of magic to explore, she's certainly jumped into it enthusiastically, even more so than the other two." His lip twitched into something resembling an amused smirk then. "Of course, she's jumped head first into _everything_ as far as I can tell, she's certainly a bundle of energy."

Lindy smiled at the brunette girl. "Yes, she is. You should have been there when she took her first proper steps out of that wheelchair of hers. She fell over after stumbling a few feet, but the expression on her face... it was simply radiant, and how she threw herself into her physiotherapy..." She shook her head.

"It's a shame that there aren't any physically demanding clubs at Hogwarts." Harry commented. "Quidditch is as close as you get, and only seven players per house actually participate." Harry tilted his head to the side in thought. "I wonder, though, how the students would take to more clubs being formed."

"What's actually needed to form a club?" Lindy asked curiously.

"Depends on the club. Homework and study groups don't actually require anything, then the low to zero risk clubs – things such as gobstones and chess – require a student to have the approval of a professor, then the magical clubs require a professor to oversee things – those ones like the charms club for example. I believe that's it." Harry thought for a moment. "Yeah, I don't think I missed anything."

"Where does Quidditch fall in all that?" Lindy wondered aloud.

"Magical." Harry replied. "Madam Hooch is supposed to watch over practises, but considering the insane times some of the captains drag their teams out of bed, and how late they often stay out, it just isn't practical. Still, her 'office' has an exit out onto the grounds close to the pitch, so someone can get to her very quickly if necessary."

"Health and Safety is really lax there, isn't it?" Lindy remarked dryly.

"Yes, yes it is." Harry agreed. "Potions is the worst. I've actually got a long coat that I made specifically for Potions classes. It's dragon hide, and I've added as many protective runic arrays as I could to it. I have some similarly enchanted goggles as well." He chuckled. "Snape seems torn between approving my caution, and hating the fact that it's me doing it."

"This Snape sounds like quite the character. If he's that bad, how is he qualified to teach children?" Lindy scowled, recalling when Harry had described all of the professors he was aware of.

"Teaching in the Wizarding World doesn't require a degree in education. Actually, you don't actually _need_ any sort of qualification to teach, but it's generally accepted that an applicant should at least have achieved an EE on the appropriate NEWT exam, and those with Masteries are rather desirable for the teaching profession. However, just because someone is good at a subject, that doesn't mean they're good at teaching it." Harry replied.

Lindy, her eyes filled with amusement, glanced between Harry and the three girls in front of them. "I think that may you have some teaching qualities of your own, perhaps you should take over some lessons for your poor, over-worked professors."

Harry shook his head. "They're paid to teach, let them do it." He waved her off. "I'm a student, I'm supposed to be learning, and I think I'm doing a rather admirable job of it, if I do say so myself."

Lindy rolled her eyes and replied. "Yes, learning, that's what you're doing, not strip-searching the library and assimilating everything you come across, really."

Harry looked at Lindy with mock surprise. "Is this sarcasm I hear from you?" He shook his head. "Why, I never."

Lindy narrowed her eyes. "After all the effort I put into those reports, _and_ ensuring things went as smoothly as possible, I feel I've earned that right."

Hayate looked up from the test she was filling in, before whispering just loud enough for Fate and Nanoha to hear her. "Those two getting along like this is really creeping me out."

"Agreed." Muttered Fate, while Nanoha nodded slightly.

Harry's eyes flickered in the direction of the three, though it was hidden by his hair, which was currently loose. Lindy caught it, and the corners of her eyes crinkled with silent laughter. The two of them decided not to comment on their whispering, which _hadn't_ actually been as unheard as the girls had thought it to be.

"How is that going by the way?" Harry asked with genuine concern in his voice.

"Better than I thought it would honestly." Lindy replied. "I went through old records, and the previous issues were the 'Book of Darkness' incidents, and Reinforce was referred to as part of that. As long as we keep quiet about NachtWal being fused with you, I foresee few problems arising from Reinforce being up and about. If anyone _recognises_ her, there could be problems, but those responsible for making decisions about this are, thankfully, being rather reasonable. As long as nothing happens while you are Rein's 'master', then her actions beforehand won't be held against you." She paused for a moment. "It doesn't hurt any that you're essentially a gateway to an entirely new magical community."

Harry sighed, understanding exactly what Lindy had meant by that.

He was useful.

As benevolent and friendly as the TSAB was, it remained that it was still a pseudo-military group centred around armed law enforcement. Because of that, certain exceptions ended up being made, and someone's potential was weighed against anything that could be held against them. It was one of the less pleasant sides of things, but it was also something working to Harry's advantage right then, and so he would get the best result he could out of it.

Wanting to distract himself from his thoughts, Harry looked towards the three girls. "Are you done?" He asked, seeing Nanoha fidgeting slightly whilst not looking at the test he'd handed out to her.

"A-Almost." Nanoha replied, her cheeks stained a light red in embarrassment. Harry realised what had caught her attention almost immediately though, as smells began to waft into and around the room.

He chuckled. "I'm sure that Isis will share whatever she's baking with you later, try and ignore the smells for now and finish that test."

Nanoha ducked her head back down and did so, while Harry began to wonder just how Isis was so good in a domestic role. True, she had read cook books, and some other bits and pieces from all over the place, but she must have gotten some serious practising in somewhere. Perhaps the house elves in the Hogwarts kitchens had helped her out, they were rather keen to assist with everything, the cheerful little buggers.

Harry's train of thought ground to a halt as he heard giggling coming from the kitchen, and it wasn't coming from Isis either, her laugh was a lot more mischievous, with a dash of deviousness thrown in. No, this laugh sounded more... disused, like the one laughing didn't do so very often.

"Heehee, no, Isis, don't!-" That was, unless Harry was mistaken, actually _Reinforce's_ voice. "No, stop that! I'm ticklish, so... no! No, no, no, nonononoNONONO! Heehee, hahaha, oh, stop, stop it, stop it!" A loud squeak and now _everyone_ in the room was looking towards the door as it fell open, Isis and Reinforce falling through it and landing on the floor, with the unicorn on top.

"I'm not even sure I want to know." Harry murmured, his eyes resting on the dishevelled looking pair of females. Puberty decided to prod Harry at this point, and he couldn't help but notice the curves the two possessed. Judging by Reinforce's suddenly wide eyes that jumped in his direction, and her atomic blush, she had picked up on those thoughts as well.

Harry, at that point, didn't know which way to look, as no matter which direction he focused his attention, he would still catch sight of attractive females. Either the fully grown, yet lovely Lindy, Fate who was developing quite a bit and quite early too, the innocent and pure Nanoha, or the cute and enthusiastic Hayate.

Reinforce started spluttering as Harry's mind suddenly jumped to what he found appealing about girls, but he wasn't alone in that. Just as Reinforce could pick up things from his side, so too could he pick up on what she was feeling and thinking. Suffice to say, Rein was just as inexperienced as Harry was with dealing with such thoughts, thoughts which were springing up just like Harry's were for some reason. Was Harry going through puberty also affecting Reinforce due to the close bond they shared?

"Are you finished _now?_" Harry asked Fate, Nanoha, and Hayate, hoping to get past this awkward moment as quickly as possible.

Nanoha slowly nodded her head, and so Harry swiped her test before she had even reached for it, taking Fate's and Hayate's too when they indicated that they were done too. He then proceeded to vanish off to where he could mark them in peace and quiet.

In other words, somewhere he wouldn't be seeing the distracting sight of attractive females.

xxxxx

Several further hours later, Harry was back with the tests he'd given them earlier, marked and ready to tell them how they'd done. They were gathered in the Midori-ya, even though it was past closing time, and everyone was wondering how the three of them had done.

Bast was sat next to Harry, a few bruises here and there a testament to the sparring session she'd had with Zafira while the three girls had been doing Harry's tests. Of course, Zafira had a few bruises as well, though not as many as Bast did, and a very clear black eye.

Isis was sat next to Momoko, Nanoha's mother, and if Harry was hearing correctly, the two of them were quietly discussing baking and recipes, exchanging ideas, and chatting about how magic affected cooking, especially with ingredients that weren't available to muggles.

Loki was looking through some files, though what they were about, Harry had no idea. Whatever they were, Loki was treating them quite seriously, so Harry thought Loki might approach him regarding the contents sometime soon, just as soon as said raven had gotten together all of the information he could collect.

Everyone else was scattered about the place, but directly across from Harry, once again, sat the three girls who were roughly the same age as himself.

"Right, how do you want to do this, by subject or by person?" Harry asked.

"Subject, core classes first." Lindy called out. "It'll make things easier for you."

"Okay then, are we all in agreement?" Harry received several nods at his question.

"Right then, let's start with Astronomy. First off, all three of you are far above where you need to be with this, though as it's an almost completely theoretical class, you've had plenty of time to study. Fate, you achieved a seventh year result of EE, whereas both Nanoha and Hayate were just a step below with sixth year O, which is actually higher than seventh year A." Fate got a little bit of applause for that, making her duck her head in embarrassment.

"Next is charms. Theoretically, all three of you are about fifth year, low to mid EE, so in another few months, you could reach a NEWT standard. Practically, you scored fourth year EE. Slightly behind the theory, but considering it's a completely different magic style to the one you're used to, it's a really damn good result." Nanoha frowned for a moment, drawing attention to herself.

"It feels weird to cast these spells. It's kind of like my core is... twisting slightly, wiggling to make things work properly." She said.

Harry thought for a moment. "Well, your practical results, in most classes, was the highest. It's possible that, when my magic was used to heal you, you gained something of a slight affinity for Terran magic, and it's this difference to Mid-Childan style magic you're feeling."

"It's possible." Shamal commented. "I'll do another deep scan on you soon, see if I can figure it out, okay?"

Some murmurings that had begun were silenced as Harry continued giving the girls their results. "I don't know why I'm bothering with Defence Against the Dark Arts. All of the professors for almost a decade have been rather bad, apparently, so you are _far_ ahead of the school there, and it seems all three of you took to offensive and defensive magic easier than almost any other, with Hayate showing great aptitude with curses and hexes, Nanoha showing her true devilish colours with jinxes, while Fate showed her stuff with counter-curses, as well as answering some of the more obscure stuff I dug up perfectly. All three of you are hovering around sixth year here, with Hayate being the best, closely followed by Nanoha and Fate, who are about equal, though with different focuses."

"Herbology was fine for all three of you, though none of you really focused on it. Your knowledge is solidly fourth year, and it's one of the ones we can't do practically, as I don't happen to carry magical plants around in my pockets. History of Magic most students spend asleep, bored to tears by Professor Binns, and seeing as the actual exam has been identical for... a rather long time, it's probably best to skip that one." Harry grumbled.

"Really?" Momoko exclaimed. "I would have thought history would be important."

"You would, wouldn't you?" Harry responded. "Binns focuses on Goblin Wars, pretty much to the exclusion of all else, aside from Witch Burnings and a few other things, like the Statute of Secrecy. I learn more history in Ancient Runes when we're doing class discussions on cultures of fallen civilizations."

"That doesn't sound very good." Momoko muttered.

"It's not." Harry shrugged. "Anyway, Potions is next. This one got rather varied results from the three of you. Hayate, no offence, but while you scored mid third-year, it was the worst result of the three. Nanoha scored fifth year, and Fate high sixth."

"I didn't like Potions." Hayate admitted easily. "It was all so confusing, and the measurements are way messed up. Seriously, a 'dash', a 'splash', a 'bundle'? Where's the standardised measurements here?"

"Yes, that does make the subject more difficult." Harry agreed. "It also doesn't help that your magic is rather 'energetic' by nature either, and it's all sorts of subtle things like that which can affect a potion. It's one of the reasons there's so few Potion Masters in the world, the subject is more of an art than a science at times."

"Anyway, the final subject of the core classes." Harry quickly continued, before the conversation spiralled off topic. "Varied results, once again. I must admit, I had a lot of difficulty with this subject, and in fact still do, so I put a lot more time and effort into it than I do other subjects. Fate and Nanoha scored third year here, mid and high respectively. Hayate actually surprised me, managing to score fourth year in Transfiguration, perhaps her mind is more geared towards transformations."

Signum compared Hayate to Fate and Nanoha. "Perhaps it is something to do with imagination. Both Fate and Nanoha have found themselves comfortable with the mathematical style of magic used by Mid-Childa, whereas Mistress Hayate is a lot more of a... free thinker."

"Yeah, that could be it." Harry agreed. "Anyway, I'm just going to skim through the electives now. Arithmancy, you're so far ahead that you could probably teach the subject already, all three of you, though especially Nanoha. Care of Magical Creatures, Hayate scored the highest here, but this is purely theory work, as I can't really set up a practical examination too easily. Divination, I have no clue how to really grade that, but Fate had the most information on the subject out of the three of you. Muggle Studies, all three of you failed actually."

There were noises of surprise from the others, while the three girls in question grimaced.

"Those questions didn't really make much sense." Hayate grumbled.

Fate nodded in agreement. "They were all done from a wizarding perspective, and asked things about fashion, though what monocles had to do with it was beyond me."

Harry grimaced. "Yeah, there's a few problems there. First are those who are born and raised in the Wizarding World, they have no idea about anything more complicated than a steam train or bicycle. Next is how few students actually bother taking the subject, and with no interest in it, it kind of gets ignored a lot. Third, there's a lot of bigotry with regards to muggles, and I don't mean just from those who want them enslaved and/or dead. Even 'light' aligned families like the Weasleys are damn near clueless when it comes to muggles, thinking their 'alternatives' to magic 'quaint', 'silly', and 'ridiculous' in some cases."

"That was a big sticking point in my reports to the higher ups." Lindy said. "Earth is one of the few planets where magicals and non-magicals have been separated, and because of just _how_ different wizards are to muggles – increased lifespan, resistance to diseases and illness, magical creatures, slower cultural and technological development – bringing them back together would be no easy task, and will only get worse as time goes on."

Harry nodded in agreement. "True, though attitudes on both sides won't help. Religion, for one, will cause issues, as there are those that will equate magic with evil somehow, though it's more intolerant and extremist people and groups that really need to be watched carefully, lest they incite the masses."

"Anyway, we've gotten off topic again." Harry returned to giving Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate their results. "The last 'standard' elective left is Ancient Runes, which you all did pretty well in. Fate got the highest mark here, sixth year EE, followed by Nanoha with fifth year O, which Hayate missed by a bare two points."

"So, you think they're ready for Hogwarts now?" Shiro Takamachi asked.

"In terms of education, then yes." Harry replied. "I have absolutely no idea how things are going to go down in regards to other things. If you're worried about them being discriminated against due to coming from a different country, don't be. There's actually a sizeable number of Asian students at Hogwarts, though for some reason most seem to end up in Ravenclaw."

Harry chuckled to himself for a moment. "Aside from that, they'll be starting out two years after everyone else, so there's the social side of things to consider, but I don't foresee any problems there, Nanoha _does_ specialise in 'befriending' others, doesn't she?"

Nanoha pouted at Harry while there was a smattering of laughter around her. Then, an 'evil' idea occurred to the girl. "Harry." She said his name so sweetly, he couldn't help but think he was about to be doomed. "Did we ever actually make our friendship... _official_? I'm not sure we did, but I guess we could always go the 'traditional' route, I'm certain I haven't beat the friendship into you yet."

Harry found a small hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Vita giving him a pitying look. "I will ensure an appropriate epitaph is on your grave, something like 'Here lies Harry, witty trickster, lover of books, and **FRIEND**'. I'll make sure that the last bit receives proper attention."

Harry rolled his eyes, before pointing towards Nanoha. "One, you're evil. Two, You can already consider me a friend, there's no need to 'befriend' me now." He then indicated Vita. "Three, not funny, I should hope my epitaph is far more awesome than that." That earned a snort and chuckle from Vita.

Harry then looked up at Lindy, Momoko, Shiro, and Shamal, the ones acting as parents or guardians for the girls. "By the way, has anyone from Hogwarts or the Ministry been in contact with you yet, and if so, what's the 'reason' you're going to Hogwarts instead of Mahoutokoro?"

"Yes, a man who referred to himself as 'Hound' visited us, along with another individual, apparently titled 'Origin'." Shiro nodded. "We'll be taking a short 'holiday' to Britain soon to visit Hayate's 'uncle' Graham, where we'll 'bump' into each other. After that, some strings will be pulled, and the girls will be offered a place at Hogwarts."

"Hmm, neat." Harry nodded. "Because they're past eleven, and the local school didn't pick them up yet, the girls are essentially 'free game' when it comes to offers from other schools. That takes care of what I thought would be the greatest obstacle, the location."

"Yeah..." Momoko trailed off for a moment. "Do you think... well, could you tell us about the Wizarding World? It's just, this is even stranger to me than the whole TSAB thing, and I kind of want to know what's going on in my daughter's life."

Harry shrugged. "Sure, what do you want to know?"

Momoko began asking questions, and soon others joined in. It would be many hours, and late into the evening, before the group broke up to return home and sleep.


	3. Five Versus Five

AN: A longer than average chapter for you guys here. I would like it if you could comment on the fight scenes, as those parts are the bits I'm most unsure about. To be honest, I don't think action is really my forte, I lean more towards descriptive text and convulted plots I believe. Anyway, next chapter should end up in Canada, if nothing gets in the way, so you have the first 'confrontation' to look forward too. I hope you enjoy it!

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 03 – Five Versus Five

Yawning slightly, Harry woke up to find a weight on his chest.

Of course, this wasn't anything new, as Isis did often lay across him when they were asleep, and Reinforce could be quite clingy as well, especially when she had a nightmare.

This time was different to those examples, however, as the weight this time turned out to be Bast in her cat form.

Harry had to raise an eyebrow at that. Not the part about Bast being there, as she 'had to be close if she wanted to protect him' – or so she said – but the fact she wasn't in either her human or hybrid form was a little strange. Saying that, Bast _was_ the one who spent most time in an animal form, as Isis virtually never took any other form than her hybrid one, and Loki only really used his animal form when he was doing a bit of spying or trying to blend in somewhere.

Sitting up, Harry gently picked up the cat, placing her down on his warm pillow instead, before finally climbing out of bed himself, only to realise that neither Isis or Reinforce were there, something that was rather unusual as well.

"Where are those two at?" Harry muttered to himself, reaching out through his connection to her in order to locate Reinforce. "They're not usually up as early as Loki and I am."

He became more concerned when he found he couldn't quite grasp what Reinforce was thinking about. Aside from things such as presents, they were usually completely open with each other, it being rather difficult _to_ obscure their thoughts from one another.

Still, Harry managed to get her location, and his concern got the better of him. He went to where she was, disillusioning himself as he did so. A 'benefit' of Reinforce obscuring her thoughts from him was that she, also, wouldn't be able to see what he was thinking either, so she was unaware of his approach.

xxxxx

Loki, who was with Isis and Reinforce, was the only one who noticed when Harry slipped into the room with them. However, he didn't speak up, believing the conversation Isis and Rein were currently having shouldn't have been hidden from their master.

Besides, Loki's loyalty was first and foremost to Harry. As harsh as it sounded, if it meant Harry remained safe, he would gladly sacrifice himself and any others necessary. When the Knight program was fully implemented, that statement would lose some of its poignancy, as he, Bast, Isis, and any others Harry may or may not add to it in future would be effectively immortal, capable of being brought back so long as Harry himself was still alive.

"I still say they should suffer at least _some_ hardship for what they put him through." Isis huffed, glaring somewhat at Reinforce.

"I never said they shouldn't, we just need to be very careful first. When the truth comes out, and it _will_, Harry will be in a very tenuous position. I'm sure you're aware of Britain's stance on regular magical creatures, saying nothing of how werewolves, vampires, and other 'dark' creatures are treated, so can you imagine just how Harry's reputation will take a hit from this?" Reinforce shot back.

Loki didn't offer an opinion, and simply sat back and watched the argument between the two females closely, occasionally letting his eyes flicker towards the slightly distorted space where Harry was stood - that disillusionment charm was a good one, barely visible at all.

The two were arguing about the Potters, Harry's parents. Isis believed that they needed to suffer somehow, being of the opinion that Harry's crappy childhood could be laid at their feet. Just what sort of 'suffering' they should be subjected to, she hadn't really said, and Loki doubted she really knew what she would do if she could, or just how she would implement it.

Reinforce, on the other hand, whilst believing that Harry had suffered due to the Potters' choices, thought that they needed to be really careful in how they proceeded. Things will undoubtedly be difficult, the prejudice of the British Magical Society being what it was, and Rein thought that Harry or those connected to him enacting 'revenge' on Lily and James would make things even _more_ difficult than they already were.

Loki thought they both had a point. Isis was right in that the Potters needed to feel the repercussions of their actions, as they'd gotten away scot free so far. Reinforce was right in that any retaliation would make things go from merely rather difficult to something nearing Cu Chulainn's final stand while tied to a pillar.

Harry had obviously realised that Loki, as skilled as he was with stealth-based magic, had noticed him, and leaned against the wall next to his raven familiar. He quietly asked him to explain what was going on, and Loki answered with an equally quiet voice.

Harry gave an exasperated sigh, dropping his disillusionment charm as he did so. Isis and Rein, as into their argument as they were, didn't notice.

Deciding to leave the two alone until they'd got it out of their system, Harry conjured up a chessboard and pieces that hovered in the air between himself and Loki. The raven familiar shrugged, before moving levitating a white pawn forwards two spaces.

Harry responded in kind, sending a pawn of his own forwards two spaces.

This was a magical control exercise that Harry had come up with himself, along with a few others. The first part of it was the conjuration, the most difficult classification of spell that falls under Transfiguration – the manipulation of matter – and Harry had to focus on creating the board and pieces as best he could. Initially, he could only create the pieces as wooden discs with a symbol scratched into the surface, but as his control improved, he could make better and better pieces to play with.

The second part of the 'exercise' was the levitation charm on the board. Now, levitation by itself isn't that difficult, it's amongst the simplest spells _in_ charms, and one any first year can cast. However, rather than having the board bobbing up and down, or moving smoothly through the air, as a levitation charm usually would, he had to keep the flow of mana constant and equal, while also making sure the board didn't rotate or tilt in any direction. It was more difficult than it sounded.

The next part of the exercise, or at least the magical part, was twofold. First, he had to levitate the pieces across the board, whilst maintaining the minor sticking spells keeping the pieces from slipping all over the places. Of course, this meant the game could be played upside down or perpendicular to the ground, and Harry had done just that to make sure his control was up to scratch.

He also had to 'feel' when his opponent's magic began to interact with one of the pieces, letting him know which one to release from the sticking spell so it could move. On top of all that, he then had to focus on the game itself, and with a strategic game such as chess, the mental focus was an exercise all of its own.

Taking that into account, it was probably not so surprising that Harry's focus switched from the argument between Isis and Reinforce to the chess game he was having with Loki. It is also something of note that when Bast brushed against him in cat form, he didn't drop the chess pieces all over the floor.

Granted, the board they were playing on dropped a foot before he managed to catch it and bring it back up, but it was still better than some previous blunders had been.

Loki smirked slightly at that little lapse of attention, earning him a slight pout from Harry, before tilting his head towards the still arguing females. That they _still_ hadn't noticed the two of them playing chess not five feet away was quite telling about how focused on their disagreement they were.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Loki asked in a low voice once Bast had settled herself – adorably in his opinion – on top of Harry's head, her eyes following the chess pieces as they levitated across the floating board between the two males.

"Well, Lindy _did_ book that training ground for that group spar the girls wanted, and they did make sure Chrono and Yuuno would be available as well, so I guess we've got that to look forward to." Harry cocked his head to one side in thought. "Fawkes did agree to take us to Mid-Childa as well, I think he likes the place, so transport isn't an issue."

"Ah, that." Loki nodded. "I've collected as much information on those five as I can, as you know, and I believe our chances are good against them."

"Care to explain, and is there any plans you've thought up?" Harry asked.

"Well, all five of them follow Mid-Childan standards as far as they're magic is concerned. Normally, mages fight in a style that resembles a duel, or perhaps a 'shoot out', with various advantages and disadvantages on each side. Nanoha is a magical cannon, with a fairly rapid rate of fire with everything except her 'big guns', though beware her binds, lest she keep you in place while she charges up something big." Loki went over his notes for the other four.

"Fate is a speedster with minimal armour, so a good blow on her will hurt. However, she is rather adept at dodging ranged shots, and close quarters _is_ her speciality. Hayate is an even bigger cannon than Nanoha, with many large-scale spells available, though her aim, though improving, is atrocious." Loki described the other two females they'd be facing off against later.

"And how about the guys? Chrono and Yuuno, neither of which I know as well as the girls." Harry queried.

"Chrono is a professional. His capacity for both magic and damage isn't in the same league as the girls, but he makes efficient use of what he has, and he thinks more tactically than they do. I believe he, along with Yuuno, will prove our biggest obstacles in the match." Loki admitted. "Yuuno, compared to the other four, isn't a damage dealer. He's like their version of our Isis, specialising in Barriers and Binds. One thing of note, however, is that he is rather good at large scale ritual spells if he has the time to set them up and activate them."

Harry tapped a finger on the edge of the chess board. "So, when the match starts, we need to prevent ourselves being immediately taken out with a bombardment spell. My 'Fog of War' could be useful there, especially coupled with disillusionment charms."

"Your Fog of War can hamper us just as much as it can our opponents. Unless you can 'hook' us all into your Beelzebub Network, we'll be restricted in what we can do too." Loki interjected.

Harry rolled his eyes. "You think I hadn't realised that? Besides, after the beating they took off you, Beelzebub won't be regenerated and recharged for a few days." He reached into a pocket and withdrew several pairs of what looked like aviator goggles. "These are set to the opposite frequency of my Fog card, so you'll at least be able to see through it."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "And what happens if an enemy gets their hands on these and replicates them? That would take away one of your best abilities."

"The goggles are, let's just say, _heavily_ enchanted. Unless I was the one who gave you them, and not under duress, then the consequences of trying to wear them would be... unpleasant to say the least. Aside from that, they have Portkey spells on them to return to me if called, and if worst comes to worst, then I'll just shift the signature of my 'Fog of War' up or down a little." Harry replied. "I _do_ take precautions, you know."

"I'm not saying you don't..." Loki raised his hands in mock surrender.

"Yeah, yeah." Harry chuckled. "Now, after that, I think we could..."

xxxxx

A trill of beautiful birdsong is what finally interrupted both Isis' argument with Reinforce and Harry's discussion with Loki. It was also right then when the two females realised that Harry was now in the same room of them. The faces they made when they found out that he had heard at least a little of what they'd been discussing were quite the picture.

"H-Harry, I-I was just-" Isis stuttered out eventually, not entirely sure what to say.

"I know." Harry replied. "I know what the two of you were arguing about and... you both have a point. Yes, I did have a rather... unfortunate childhood due to their actions, but it's also because of them I even _have_ a life. I know this doesn't excuse their 'negligence', and Loki has found evidence that I'm not the only one to suffer because of them."

He then turned to Reinforce. "You are also right, Rein, causing trouble would _be_ trouble for me. I need to tread carefully, and even the slightest misstep could cause everything to blow up in my face. Aside from what the general public will think and do, there's also how the Press will spin things to consider, I've read several articles by one Rita Skeeter, and I have to say that she seems to enjoy spinning things as badly as she can, though she is far from alone in this regard."

"Sometimes I wonder if it isn't best to just leave them be, and let things play out as they will." Harry frowned. "But... but I _want_ to expose them to the world. I- I feel that they've hidden from their problems, run away from them, and they need to face things head on, or... I don't know, I haven't a clue how to describe how I'm feeling right now." He trailed off, confusion clear in his voice.

Loki laid a hand on his should, just as Bast patted him on he head with her paw. "Betrayed may be a good word for what you're feeling. Children, all of them, look to their parents first, the ones who raised them. It might be an answer based on emotion rather than logic, but that doesn't make the decision a bad one. Sometimes we have to go with our hearts over our heads, else we never be satisfied with our choices."

Harry smiled slightly. "Thanks, Loki." He muttered.

"No thanks necessary, my master." He replied. "Now that it's a reasonable hour, and Fawkes is here, shall we go and collect everyone and head to Mid-Childa? I don't know about you, but I find myself rather eager for a little fight."

"Yeah, let's do that." Harry agreed. "And thanks again, Loki."

"Once more, no thanks are necessary." Loki waved him off. "Everything I am and have is yours, my loyalty is complete and unshakeable, I am behind and with you no matter what happens. I think we've talked enough though, to the Midori-ya!"

He followed a smiling Harry out the door, accompanied by the females also bound to Harry.

xxxxx

Lindy looked at the monitors hovering in mid-air in front of her. Beside her were the Wolkenritter, Arf, and Nanoha's Parents. All of them were there to watch the match between the two groups, Reinforce, Harry, and his three familiars on one side, with Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, Chrono, and Yuuno on the other side.

"How do you think this is going to go, Signum?" Shamal asked the flaming general, as she was the most experienced one there.

"It's difficult to say." Signum replied. "It depends, almost totally, on the 'Bureau' team."

"Oh, what makes you say that?" Lindy asked, though her eyes remained on the screens as the last thirty seconds before the match began were counting down.

"They will fall back on and rely on the Mid-Childan magic styles in a fight, out of habit if nothing else, whereas Harry's team will mix everything they know up together, and they have a lot of esoteric spells available to them. If the 'Bureau' team want to win, then they're going to have to quickly work out how to react to the strange things Harry will use." Signum explained.

"Not to mention Harry's team is more used to fighting together than the others. One-on-one, Gladiator style, I'd say Nanoha, Fate, and possibly Chrono and Hayate would be able to take them any day." Zafira offered. "Harry's team won't fight like that though, they will strip Nanoha and the others of any advantages they can, improving their chances as much as possible, before systematically taking them out one at a time. That's why I think they will win."

"Look, it's starting!" Vita called out, just as the timer reached zero.

"Aaaaand there goes visuals." Shamal commented, frowning. "Did that fog spell originate from Harry? I had my eyes on Hayate at the time, and then it kinda took over."

"Yes, it did." Signum answered. "I _did_ see, however, all of Harry's side put some sort of goggles on before sight was obscured, and they jumped over the edge instead of into the air like Nanoha's side did."

"Does this mean the match is already over?" Momoko asked. "If one side can see their opponents and the other can't, what can they do?"

"I wouldn't count them out just yet." Signum commented. "They're tough enough to take a few hits, and that fog won't last long spread over such a large area. I think... yes, I think that Harry's side are probably setting up traps and things around the area before the fog dissipates."

True to Signum's words, the fog slowly began to vanish after several minutes. Creating enough of it to completely obscure such a massive area, and the training ground was large enough to be considered a decent sized town, _must_ have been costly, no matter how large your reserves were.

xxxxx

Chrono frowned as he tried to pierce the fog with a glare.

He had landed on a rooftop and had taken refuge behind a water tank, thinking it better to save his mana, not to mention that hovering in mid-air would make him a huge target, and he was smart enough to know that was a supremely stupid idea.

Harry, it seemed, did not fight like anyone he'd fought before. Normally, smoke and fog was only used to hide you when running away, not to support you _during_ a fight. Most mages seemed obsessed with big, flashy spells, like Nanoha's Starlight Breaker.

Not that he thought Nanoha was trying to show off, she simply used stupidly large amounts of power in every one of her spells, beating her foes into the ground with superior 'fire-power'. He didn't have the same capacity she did, and so he learned to ration his own magic usage.

Calming himself, Chrono let his senses drift outwards, looking for danger, checking for anyth-

He dodged sideways, only just avoiding a pencil-thick beam of purplish-black.

_'So, they're targeting me? That's odd, most assume it's the others who are more dangerous, what with their large reserves and penchant for bombardment magic.'_ He thought to himself.

The fact that they viewed him as the greater threat was, in all honestly, a little flattering to Chrono. While he wasn't overlooked, most tended to focus more on the 'big guns', so to speak.

Another purplish-black beam came through the fog, this one just clipping Chrono's shoulder. However, as slight as the contact was, it still managed to completely destroy a large chunk of his barrier jacket, exposing almost half of his chest, not to mention it hurt like hell too.

_'That accuracy's crazy!'_ Chrono mentally screamed. _'Something that small shouldn't be used over such distances, and his visibility must at least be affected by this fog! He's a god damn sniper!'_

Chrono rolled off the edge of the building, before swinging around and smashing through a window two floors down. He considered his options in this fight.

Well, he understood why he was being targeted now at least. He wasn't being condescending to the others, but he _was_ simply better at thinking tactically than they were.

Chrono noted that the fog was beginning to thin, and was thankful that handicap was going away at least.

'BOOM!'

The building Chrono was in shook with the shockwave of what felt like a small earthquake going on nearby.

"What the heck was that?!" Chrono cried out, wondering if maybe he should have done a little snooping in regards to what his opponents were capable of.

xxxxx

Harry whistled to himself.

He was standing next to one of his golems, specifically Dante the Cannon.

There was a clunk and ping as one cartridge was ejected and another loaded, before another loud boom echoed around the place as the shot was fired into the distance, where it exploded with teeth-rattling force.

"Hehehe, big gun." Harry couldn't help but chuckle.

It was true though, a standard Belkan cartridge was usually 9.3x62mm in size. The ones Dante was loading were 155x800mm in size. That was a bit more than three and a half _thousand_ times the volume of a regular cartridge, which meant one big bang.

On one knee, with his device in Sniper Mode, Harry was taking shots at the targets he could see. He wasn't very accurate, being so close to the cannon was throwing his aim off and making him only get glancing shots at best. However, a glancing shot was actually quite bad when one took into account just how concentrated his laser beams were.

He paused in his shots and blinked in stupefaction as he saw Hayate prepare a spell of some sort.

_~Reinforce, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a Hræsvelgr spell Hayate is casting?~_ He telepathically asked Reinforce.

_~You're not wrong, Harry... and it looks like she's overpowering it too...~_ Reinforce trailed off.

"Everyone go to ground!" Harry yelled out with a magically amplified voice, before doing just that himself. He _knew_ just how bad Hayate's aim was, but if the attack was big enough... did it really matter.

xxxxx

Nanoha stared with wide eyes at Hayate, who was huffing and panting after throwing around so many high-ranking bombardment spells.

"I thought I was supposed to be the cannon on this team?" She pouted lightly, miffed about something and not knowing why. "Still, is this what they call 'carpet bombing' something?"

Nanoha had good reason to ask that, as there didn't seem to be much left of the training ground, with multiple massive craters being scattered everywhere.

"T-Thats... that's... that's me spent." Hayate managed to pant out. "Hehehe, so what if my aim's bad? It doesn't matter when I can hit _everything_ now, does it?"

She grinned at Nanoha, a little maniacally if the truth was told, and was about to say something else when a spell smashed into her at high speed.

She fell out of the air, that one hit managing to take her out after she'd exhausted herself so thoroughly.

xxxxx

Looking at the monitors, Momoko and Shiro didn't know what to say. They'd just seen a barely teen-aged girl level the place better than Hiroshima or Nagasaki. They looked towards Lindy, their eyes silently asking the questions that they simply couldn't vocalise.

Lindy winced. "Power like that isn't too common." She answered, already knowing what was on their minds. "In fact, aside from weapon systems mounted on battleships and the like, the only ones who could possibly match that level of power are out there: Hayate herself, Reinforce, Harry, and not too far behind them are Fate and Nanoha."

"Our daughter, can match _that?_" Shiro asked incredulously.

"Well, she does use her magic more efficiently than Hayate does, and she can actually aim, but there _is_ a reason the bureau is keeping an eye on her and her friends. There are those on the upper echelons that are... understandably nervous about having power like that out there and not under their control. It's a problem that Harry faces even more than they do, due to the stigma attached to the whole 'Book of Darkness' incident, a stigma that Hayate will have to shake as well." She admitted.

"Well, that's one down at least." Shamal commented, noting that once she had lost consciousness, Hayate's body had been magically teleported out of the training area and into the infirmary. Thankfully, nothing was wrong with her aside from exhaustion, and she'd recover from that quickly enough. "How's everyone else doing?"

Lindy's eyes flickered over the monitoring systems on the still active ones. "Chrono has taken quite a severe hit that almost took him out in one shot, but he's still in the game. Nanoha and Fate were both caught by Harry's ridiculous cannon, but managed to get away from it quick enough that they only took minor damage. Yuuno is... quite the distance away, and he seems to be preparing something."

"And Harry's side?" Signum asked.

"Isis threw up a barrier that stopped the majority of Hayate's bombardment, but it did cost her a lot of mana, and as they all share one mana pool, that's gotta have hit them hard. Loki... well, the systems have lost him, he could be anywhere right now, but his condition seems to be fine. Harry and Bast are together, and the took moderate damage trying to get away from Hayate's bombardment. Reinforce pulled through fine, but she _does_ have plenty of experience behind her." Lindy quickly read off.

"Hayate could have won the match with that spell if she'd been more lucky or accurate." Signum commented. "Let's see how they respond to it, shall we?"

xxxxx

Harry was swearing under his breath, and even he hadn't realised just how much profanity he knew, as he spouted curse after curse into the air. Bast had even gone slightly red after the first few dozen, and her own eyes were wide with shock at what was flowing from her master's mouth.

Eventually, however, Harry ran out of things to say.

"That was not a very friendly thing to do in a spar." He commented with a huff. "At least she's worn herself out, she's not going to be doing anything else now." He saw her get knocked out of the air. "And it looks like Isis was the one to finish her off. That just leaves Nanoha, Fate, Chrono, and Yuuno to deal with."

"May I confront the blonde?" Bast asked. "I am not suited to ranged combat, and she is the one with a tendency towards close quarters fighting."

Harry sent a message off. "Right, meet up with Loki, and _then_ you can go after Fate together. She's fast, and she has a more than decent amount of power as well, so she's not going to go down easily."

Bast looked up as pink and purplish-black light began to dance across the sky. Harry followed her eyes and saw what she had caught sight of.

"It looks like Reinforce has decided to go head to head with Nanoha." He muttered. "That'll draw attention away from us, and I'm going to go and try to take Yuuno out, so that leaves Isis to deal with Chrono. Good luck with Fate, and stay safe."

Bast nodded to him, before darting off towards Loki's location.

"Right, time to prepare." Harry muttered to himself, ejecting two cards from his bracers. Dante the Cannon had been taken out in Hayate's bombardment, and Fog of War had been completely used up, to the point where he'd had to augment the card's reserves with his own to cover the entire training ground.

"What should I use." He wondered to himself. "Assassin's Cloak as a support, yes, and perhaps this will be a good test of my Disruption Blast. I think I'll round it out with Draining Cage as well. As for a golem, Vritra the Serpent may work here."

After inserting the cards into his bracers and making sure they were charged, Harry checked his device, which was still in Sniper Rifle form. He shifted into a glaive, a form he was comfortable with, before heading off to find his ferret target.

xxxxx

Yuuno could only face-palm when he saw Nanoha go head to head with Reinforce. That girl meant well, and she was strong, but she also tackled everything head on, usually without really thinking about it. Of course, a tactically minded Nanoha was the stuff of nightmares, ones that heavily featured a lot of light and the colour pink.

Getting back to what he was doing, Yuuno glanced around, knowing that _he_ was going to be targeted sooner or later. Actually, with Chrono taking a hit like he had, he thought that he might have been next, but so far it looked like he was safe, giving him plenty of time to set up his own spells.

Yuuno was out over the surface of the water, with a lot of space on all sides. Around him, there were dozens of Mid-Childan style arrays, each one ready to be fired at a moment's notice. Yuuno was also preparing barrier spells for any shots aimed at himself, and so he wasn't at all caught off guard when several dozen Bloody Daggers were fired his way.

A strong round shield snapped into place, as Yuuno looked over to see Harry with the same black-winged flight spell Reinforce and Hayate used activated.

"Scarlet Dragon Summon!" Harry called out aloud, a magical circle appearing above and behind him, from which said dragon emerged.

"Oh boy." Yuuno muttered to himself, remembering that this spell was one that Reinforce had used as the 'Will of the Book of Darkness' when it had been completed.

A storm of magic erupted from the arrays that Yuuno had prepared, dealing devastating damage to the dragon, actually managing to take it out with just that barrage. He hurriedly switched his attention to Harry, who he was sure would take advantage of his distractio- Who actually hadn't moved and had weathered the attacks Yuuno had sent his way with a coffin shaped shield of some sort.

Why wouldn't Harry have used the distraction his dragon provided? From what Yuuno had been able to find out, Harry thought rather tactically, and wasn't afraid of fighting 'dirty' if it meant getting a win, so why-

Yuuno shot into the air as the water beneath him surged upwards. A glance back down had Yuuno's eyes nearly jumping out of his face.

A massive snake skeleton had apparently been swimming underneath his feet and just had launched itself at him. _That_ was why Harry had summoned the dragon, to capture his attention and get rid of his preparations while the snake thing, he could only assume it was one of Harry's golems, got into position to attack him.

He dodged sideways, avoiding a rain of shots from Harry, who was now above him and firing shots down at him from higher up, forcing him to either dodge sideways, stalling him, or driving him down towards where the skeleton lay in wait.

Another look behind him saw something else that confused Yuuno. The water around the snake skeleton wasn't falling away, but was surrounding it like it was the things flesh. Of course, the fact that the snake seemed to be charging up some sort of ball of energy in its mouth was of greater concern to Yuuno.

_'This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.'_ Yuuno internally grumbled to himself, especially as he saw Harry prepare a large net spell above him.

xxxxx

One member of Harry's team who wasn't doing so well was Isis. She was currently facing off against Chrono, and the only reason she hadn't been taken out yet was because she was using every dirty, sneaky trick she could think of, and using her rather 'developed' body to fluster her opponent, though that wasn't as effective as she thought it would have been.

Isis was feeling a little miffed that she had been the one to face off with Chrono. Say what you want about his smaller capacity for magic, he was a very intelligent young man, and he actually applied that in his fights. Isis would have had an easier time with Nanoha, who would have had a much more extreme reaction to Isis' suggestive remarks.

"Hold still." Chrono growled as Isis bent backwards, folding herself in half to dodge Chrono's attack, before flipping backwards to land on her feet.

"Oh, Chrono-kun, doesn't the chase excite you? I'm not so sure you're so innocent, especially seeing how you keep trying to catch me with a Struggle Bind, you kinky boy." She winked at him. "Sorry, but only Harry's allowed to do those things to me, you're just not the one for me, Chrono-kun."

Chrono twitched at that, and Isis tried to take advantage of the opening. Unfortunately, Chrono wasn't as distracted as she'd hoped he was, and she just barely avoided getting S2U slammed into her gut.

"Come on, hurry up and finish your opponents so you can come and help me!" Isis' muttered under her breath. She knew her chances against Chrono were rather low, and the only way she could see herself winning would be with help from someone else.

xxxxx

Fate wasn't having an easy time of things either. She was currently facing off against Bast, which wasn't the problem really. Bast was tough, and capable of dealing out some heavy blows, but she needed to work on her speed. Fate could literally run rings around Bast if she chose to, so that wasn't the issue, Loki was.

The raven familiar would appear out of thin air, try and cut her, then vanish again just as quickly. Fate, uncharacteristically, was getting rather pissed off. Mentally, she knew the advantage such spells would give someone, but her frustration was building as she couldn't keep track of him, and he was keeping her from taking the cat out of the match.

Bast, for her part, was looking rather beat up. While Fate had not landed a decisive blow on her, she had landed a number of regular hits on her. Her Knight Armour was on its last legs, and there were bruises and cuts on her exposed flesh. She was also tiring, as keeping up with Fate was draining her stamina a lot.

Bast felt Loki pull at the collar she wore around her neck, pulling her away from a slice that could have ended the match. She was surprised however, when she felt him continue to pull her along, before a whisper in her ear told her he had a trap set up to capture Fate.

Fate, seeing her opponent fleeing, thought she had almost beaten the cat-girl – she had after all dealt a more than fair amount of damage to her – and gave chase, determined to take her out.

Bast went around a corner at full pelt, and Fate sped after her, easily keeping up. She prepared bardiche to deal the finishing blow-

-only to run into a net.

Fate blinked in surprise for a moment, instantly taking note of how the net seemed to be anchored to four small cubes that were stuck to the walls on either side of the street.

Thwack!

She received Bast's metal-enclosed fist right in the face, knocking her out.

As she was teleported out of the training ground, the net dissolved into motes of light, and Loki collected up the projectors that had conjured it. The raven familiar was panting heavily, with his hands on his knees, as he tried to catch his breath. Bast was not breathing as heavily, but she was coated in a sheen of sweat.

"I'm spent." Loki eventually spoke up. "I don't know how much more I've got to give."

"Isis." Bast said to him.

"The horny unicorn? What about h- Oh, she's facing off against Chrono, isn't she? She's even less suited to direct combat than I am." Loki sighed in exasperation. "Right, let's go get her out of trouble, shall we?"

Bast nodded, before heading off towards where she knew Isis was.

Loki heaved a sigh before following, grumbling about how Hayate's bombardment had taken out most of his traps he'd set up in the fog.

xxxxx

""Divine Buster!"" Two voices called out in the sky, as two equally powerful beams collided in mid-air.

Reinforce dived downwards, before firing up at Nanoha once again, while the brunette girl rose into the sky, in front of the sun, making looking at her difficult, as she also fired off a spell at Reinforce.

Neither of them were paying much attention to what was going on elsewhere, too focused on exchanging shots with each other as fast and as accurately as they could. It wasn't clear who was winning this particular exchange, as both had received and dealt damage to the other.

"Accel Shooter!" Nanoha called out, firing almost two dozen shots at Reinforce, who defended herself with a strengthened Panzerschild, before replying with a Photon Lancer Genocide Shift, launching literally hundreds of shots at Nanoha.

Nanoha cast a barrier around herself before they all hit her, but she still received quite the brutal beating from the massed attack, emerging from the barrage with far more damage done to her Barrier Jacket, and her reserves being drained trying to keep the shield up under the onslaught.

Of course, Reinforce had spent quite a bit of magic to cast said spell, so it was difficult to say how much it mattered.

Reinforce and Nanoha locked eyes, before once again continuing their dance across the sky.

xxxxx

Bast and Loki hurtled around a corner just in time to see the shaft of S2U connect with Isis' head, knocking her unconscious.

They didn't give Chrono time to breath, despite their own depleted stamina, and immediately engaged him in a furious melee. Loki, with his device Fenrir split into two swords, and Bast with Sekhmet, her device which took the form of metal gauntlets and boots, launched a flurry of rapid attacks against Chrono in an effort to take him out as fast as possible.

Chrono, to his misfortune, was taken out in under thirty seconds due to just having finished fighting Isis, but he did get a good few whacks in against Loki and Bast, bruising the ribs of the former, and taking the latter's legs out from underneath her.

"Just... just Nanoha and Yuuno left." Loki panted, gingerly feeling his ribs, making sure they weren't broken. "There's nothing I can really do to help Reinforce out, blitzing through the air like they are-" A loud roar was heard off to the side, where Yuuno and Harry were facing off. "-and I'd only get in the way of Harry right now."

Bast agreed with Loki regarding Reinforce and Nanoha, but she didn't really hear what he said regarding Harry and Yuuno, as she was focused on the, rather beautiful, sight before her. Vritra the Serpent, Harry's golem based on the skeleton of the basilisk, was looking incredibly beautiful right now.

The water it had been using as flesh had frozen into scales of ice that glittered in the sunlight, colours reflecting and refracting off of it, to make it look like something out of a fairy tale, before its mouth opened wide, gathering energy between its jaws, before letting loose with a cold blue beam that froze everything it touched.

Flying nearby was a partially transformed Harry, part-way turned into his animagus form. His skin had been replaced with scales, his hands with claws, and even though she couldn't see it from this far away, she knew he also sported the slitted eyes of a dragon as well. Powerful, draconic wings emerged from his back, driving him through the air at rather impressive speeds, and with incredible manoeuvrability.

xxxxx

_'This is just too weird.'_ Yuuno thought, as he tried to somehow deal with the giant flying snake of ice, while also fending off the rather skilled Harry at the same time, which had been made all the more difficult due to his transformation. Whatever it was he'd done, it had boosted his strength and resistance to magic, proven when he'd managed to literally tear apart a binding spell that Yuuno thought might have bought him a little breathing room.

_Now_ he had to deal with that damn snake _freezing_ things as well, rather than the generic mana blasts it had been firing off before. Was that a result of its body being formed out of ice or something? Yuuno honestly didn't know, and he was rather curious about it, determining to ask Harry about it later.

A massive explosion came from off to one side, drawing his attention in case it was another attack, only to see Nanoha falling out of the air, unconscious. Though judging from the damage Reinforce had taken, she hadn't gone down easily.

Harry hadn't been distracted by Nanoha being taken out though, and used Yuuno's momentary distraction to rapidly fire his Disruption Blasts at Yuuno. The unstable packets of magic messing with anything they came near, which caused Yuuno's flight spell to falter long enough for Vritra to catch him with an ice beam and win the match.

Thankful the match was finally over, Harry let Vritra return to its card, as he landed heavily on the ground, his draconic transformation reversing itself until he was properly 'human' once more. Reinforce, battered as she was, landed near him, Loki and Bast stumbling their way as well, supporting each other and looking ready to pass out.

Harry looked down for a moment, a little sad that Isis had been taken out, but he soon recovered and grinned up at the ones still there, looking to be as close to passing out as he was.

"Well." He said. "We won!"


	4. Canada

AN: Okay, this chapter ends in a, I believe, rather soft tone, and I hope I've written the emotional stuff out properly, as that's not something I write a lot of. Still, practice makes perfect, I guess, and we've all got to start somewhere, ne? It's not long now until the Potters actually step into this fic properly, and I'm still not entirely sure how to deal with that, so any advice or ideas you guys have would be much appreciated, thanks!

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 04 - Canada

It was a few days later, and Nanoha was still pouting over her loss. Of course, Isis was even less happy than the brunette, having been the _only_ member of Harry's team to be taken out, and quite close to the end of the match too. That had really stung her pride, even if she knew she wasn't suited to close-quarters combat, or even combat at all.

Harry sighed. "Can you knock that off, Nanoha? Yes, you lost, but you can use this as a lesson, get better, and beat me next time we spar, okay?"

Nanoha pouted even more fiercely. "As long as there _is_ a next time, and how am I supposed to prepare for the random things you were doing? You beat me easily, and don't even try and deny it, Reinforce, I _know_ you were holding back a lot, and I _still_ lost!"

Harry rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Nanoha, think about how much power and experience Rein has, along with her repertoire of spells. Now think, is it really so surprising you lost, especially considering the way you both fought in a similar manner. Also, Mid-Childan magic has several advantages over Terran magic."

"What are they?" Fate asked curiously, wanting to hear another's opinion on the subject.

"Range for one, wizards have trouble hitting anything more than a few dozen metres away." Harry answered. "Raw power for another, both your attacks and shields are many times stronger than the equivalent wizard spells merely due to the amount of magic in them. You're also more manoeuvrable than wizards, as flight spells are a lot easier to deal with than trying to fly a broom during a fight."

"So what advantages does Terran magic have, in your opinion?" Fate wondered aloud.

"Primarily, variety. A wizard will know dozens of spells, at the least, and if they've learnt to cast silently, you can never be too sure what spell is heading towards you." Harry replied. "Terran spells for altering the environment, such as making a surface slippery or bringing statues to life, are also very useful things. Thirdly, I do not know how Mid-Childan shields would deal with Unforgivables like the killing curse, and I'm not willing to try them out."

Fate frowned. "You say Mages have a manoeuvrability advantage over wizards, but what about apparition? Unlike something like, say, Sonic Move, it has quite a range to it, so why couldn't a wizard just appear behind one of us, curse us, and then 'pop' away?"

"A few reasons." Harry shrugged. "One of which is that apparition causes disorientation, so only those that have practised with it for a long time will be able to gather themselves quickly enough to actually do something useful. A second, though minor, issue is noise, as apparition can be quite loud, and can easily give your position away to the enemy. Another thing is that apparition can be warded against – Loki actually has some pre-set ward blocks in his bag of tricks that do just that– but because Sonic Move is a physical spell, in that it actually hurls the caster a short distance away, it can't so easily be stopped."

Loki then added his own opinion into the mix. "That only really applies to the Witches and Wizards that stand out from the masses though. If you go through history books and records, you'll find that the 'standard' response of a regular Terran Wizard is to stand still and throw spells at your enemy until they're taken out."

Harry nodded in agreement. "The most common spell used by 'light' wizards is 'Stupefy', the stunning spell, and the shield spell 'Protego'. They'll throw a handful of other things out as well, but those are the main ones. 'Dark' wizards tend to use bone breaker and organ rotting curses, as well as, of course, the Unforgivables."

Lindy sighed, rubbing her forehead. "The same could be said of the rank and file of the TSAB. They rely on shooting spells and Round Shields primarily, with the occasional binding spell mixed in. The higher ranks are the only place you really see other things being used, it's part of what makes them stand out for promotion."

A contemplative expression crossed Fate's face. "So the regular fighters are pretty much the same on both sides, and it's only the exceptional ones that differ. I suppose, since we conformed to a simple pattern, we lost, while Harry's team, with a more unique style, won, despite our greater experience."

Hayate seemed to be in agreement. "That's why you labelled Chrono and Yuuno as higher threats than us. We were predictable, whereas Chrono is known for being efficient with his mana, and Yuuno has a very different style of fighting to the norm."

Loki and Harry both chuckled at that., with the latter offering up a comment as well.

"That's right." He said.

Nanoha grumbled, but gained a fierce light in her eyes, determination to become better burning within them. That was one thing you could always count on with Nanoha, she never gave up, and was always pushing herself to be better, to do whatever she could, to help whoever she was able to. She was a very compassionate soul.

Just then, an owl flew in the window and deposited a letter in Harry's lap, before leaving once more.

After checking it, just in case it contained anything malicious, Harry opened it up. The letter, whatever it was, seemed to please the boy immensely, making the others wonder what it was that it contained. Isis, rather than asking, simpler slumped over Harry from behind, reading it over his shoulder.

"Something important?" Loki decided to ask.

"You could say that." Harry replied. "I sent a letter to the Japanese Ministry of Magic a short while ago, and this is their reply. As you know, I was concerned about possible repercussions regarding my existence, and how things might go pear-shaped back in Britain, so I needed a back-up plan."

"And?" Loki prompted, after a moment where Harry didn't elaborate.

"I applied for Japanese citizenship, and was successful." Harry replied. "I'm actually kind of surprised how quickly that got passed, but I think that they might have discovered that I'm not quite human somehow, the representative I met with certain had an unusual smile on his face, a sort of 'I know something' look, if you know what I mean."

He shrugged. "Anyway, I also purchased a bit of land to build a home on as well, taking a bit of a chunk out of what I have, and I intend to have a home built there. It's just outside of Uminari as well, so it's really easy to visit these guys, even without making use of Dimensional Transfer spells."

"You're going to have a house built?" Lindy asked. "Isn't that going to be really expensive?"

Harry shook his head, but it was Reinforce that answered her question verbally. "Not as expensive as you might think. There are spells and wards in Harry's Tome of Shadows that can handle a lot of things, including earthquakes, flooding, and to a certain extent, volcanic eruptions, so preparing the land will not be difficult, it just requires a lot of power."

Harry then continued on himself. "Also, certain utilities can be handled by runes. Things such as conjuring water, vanishing waste, and even electricity. As long as the electronics are protected, or the ambient mana is kept relatively low, there's no reason for me not to use them, like in a traditional Wizarding household."

"Hmm." Loki murmured. "I suppose you're going to be using one of your golems for manpower then, for when you don't have any spells that are suitable?"

"A lot of the work can be done with magic, but yes, I do have a golem card I can use." Harry replied, drawing a card out of one of his waist pouches and tossing it to Loki.

Loki looked at the card, examining the design for a moment. The back of the card was a silvery-grey colour, with a simple design of a book on it, while the other side was different. The front of the card had a border around it, with 'Herakles the Horde' in a grey banner at the bottom. The image depicted on the card was that of several floating balls with four arms on it.

It was a rather simple design, but it worked. Loki knew the colour of the banner denoted what 'type' of card it was. The golems had grey banners, the shields dark purple, the support cards had blue, and the attack spells red. Harry was working on embedding healing spells into cards as well, which, if they worked, would have a green banner on them.

"Huh, I suppose that would work, but you'd have to know just how to construct a building if you're AI is going to direct them. We wouldn't want to build a house only to have it fall down in a strong breeze." Loki commented.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm not that stupid, Loki. Now that I've managed to connect my device to my Tome, I've also linked up these bracers too, and I added several books on construction and physics to it as well, so the AI will know what it is doing when it constructs the building."

"Terran magic really is useful, isn't it?" Hayate asked, hearing what Harry was intending to do. "I mean, with Mid-Childan and Belkan stuff, you only hear about how magic is used to fight, but I don't think I've ever really heard it used like that before."

Lindy frowned slightly. "Magic isn't _only_ about fighting, even if most Mages are part of the Bureau. Magic is used in mining, for example, and other occupations such as doctors and nurses, though it is true that the most common use of magic is combat."

"In comparison, the Wizarding World, at least in Britain, uses magic for everything." Harry shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure about other countries, but I know Japan is another one that uses a lot of magic in day-to-day life, and I _think_ most of Europe is the same, though I can't say for sure."

"It's not that surprising." Loki said. "Magic _is_ very useful, and there's no reason _not_ to use it either."

"True." Harry agreed. "I know that a few muggleborns have complained about wizards becoming dependant on their magic for every little thing, but is the same not true of those without magic? How would they cope if a power station failed, and they went without electricity? At least magic is a personal power, and thus a reliable one."

Lindy listened in with one ear, mentally adding to the list of everything she knew, and that Harry had told her, about the Wizarding World, to add to her reports to the higher ups of the TSAB.

Thankfully, when she'd made her initial report regarding Harry and Reinforce, those who she had reported to hadn't immediately tried to erase every last trace of the 'Book of Darkness', like she had feared they might. It seemed that the magical community on Earth was a good distraction as well, though things were being kept very quiet about it all.

The TSAB wasn't about to make contact with Earth, and wouldn't until their technology level was a fair bit higher than it was at present. A rule of thumb was that a planet needed to have the technology necessary to achieve a certain level of space flight _before_ the TSAB got involved, and obviously before they were considered for application as an Administrated World.

Earth's current level was several decades away from that level, possible even a century or more, so they weren't thinking about reaching out to them yet. However, the structure of magic, and the possibilities it opened up, were too great to ignore, and so they were in support of Hayate, Nanoha, and Fate attending Hogwarts alongside Harry.

They would have preferred to separate them out and send them to different magical schools, to get a broader sense for Earth's magical potential and power, but Harry was literally their only contact in that society, and as he only really had connections in Britain, they were limited in what they could do, and how they might slide people into the system.

At present, Harry and Reinforce's existence was only known to a handful of people amongst the TSAB, and they were keeping it that way. This was a good thing for Harry and his group, as those higher ups had influence of their own, as well as connections, and so would make things a lot easier when things became more publicly known, especially considering how many people had lost family and friends in previous incidents revolving around the 'Book of Darkness', a stigma that Hayate, though she wasn't aware of it, also carried.

She came back to the conversation when the subject, it seemed, had changed. Right now they were discussing Harry's plans over the summer, the ones that would have him coming face to face with Lily and James Potter.

"I don't really know how this is going to work." Harry was saying. "I can't exactly plan for it, as I don't know how they are going to react to me, or how they will respond to particular stimuli. This is further complicated by who else is going to be there, and what effect that might have on them."

"Who else is going to Canada with you?" Lindy asked.

"Madam Bones will be there, as will her niece, Susan Bones, and Susan's friend, Hannah Abbot. Amelia is spinning it as a trip out together, as she doesn't get much of a chance to spend time with Susan due to the amount of work she gets in the Ministry. Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Office, will be filling in for her. He's, apparently, an ambitious man, but also fairly skilled, and should keep things under control." Harry replied. "Also, Hound should be there, though exactly why is a mystery to me, and he said he'd see if Origin, another Unspeakable, would also come with him, though again, I have no clue why he would."

"Do you have _any_ idea what you're going to say to them, or how you're going to approach them?" Fate asked.

Harry frowned. "To be entirely honest, no, I don't. I feel incredibly conflicted in regards to the Potters. Yes, I can understand what they did, before the events of October Thirty-first at least, but afterwards, even if they truly believed me to be a vessel for Voldemort's soul, they were incredibly negligent. They allowed fear and 'what ifs?' to rule them, and essentially washed their hands of me. Britain as well, now that I think on it."

Isis and Bast both gave Harry a hug at this point, and Reinforce leaned into his side too, as Harry continued speaking.

"I also understand that they had a child, now two, to take care of, and that their safety comes first. I understand their concerns and priorities as parents, but could they have not left a message with someone they trusted to at least check that I was what they really thought I was? If I truly was nothing more than a piece of Voldemort's soul in the flesh of a dead baby, it would have been so simple to... get rid of me before I had the chance to become a problem, a threat, and yet they didn't." Harry's voice got quieter and softer as he went on, becoming little more than a whisper towards the end.

Everyone's eyes softened as Harry seemed to collapse into himself a little. They all realised just how difficult things were for Harry right then. It must be really hard to come to terms with the fact that you were never meant to live at all, and then that your dead body was supposed to be used as a weapon to kill someone.

What was worse was that when, against all odds, he actually managed to gain some semblance of life after that event, only for said life to not be nurtured, and instead subjected to his foul relatives. Reinforce had confided a small amount of what Harry had suffered at their hands with them and it was most definitely unpleasant.

On top of that, his parents were, in fact, alive, and actually believed him to be a monster, a terrorist that had slaughtered his way through Britain with no sign of stopping, nothing until Harry himself had barred his path, and that they may possibly, perhaps even probably, attempt to destroy him if they ever caught sight of him, especially so close to their home.

Nanoha, being the ever friendly and caring person she was, joined in the hug that now surrounded Harry, followed by Fate, Hayate, and Lindy too. The Wolkenritter weren't the sort to really hug people, but Vita did make a note to try and knock the 'sad' out of Harry with a spar or something, and even Zafira thought about trying to prank Harry to distract him from his funk.

"Thanks, you lot." Harry smiled, glad in the knowledge that he had made good friends that had his back, even if he recognised the look in Zafira's eyes.

xxxxx

Several days later, a surprise visitor arrived at the Midori-ya café.

The man, who appeared to be in his late twenties to early thirties, was dressed in jeans and a shirt, not how Harry had previously met him, yet still he recognised him, if only because of the feel of his magic. He ran a few quick medical diagnostic spells on him when he approached the table he was sat at, though the man seemed to have noticed them if the twinkle in his eye was anything to go by.

Fate looked rather confused at the man who sat down with them, while Hayate and Nanoha merely looked curious.

"Unspeakable Hound, how you found out about me being here, I'm not going to ask, merely state that your ability to find things out scares me somewhat." Harry said blandly. "I will say, though, that your disguise is very good. It's not an illusion, or a transformative like Polyjuice potion. Instead, you've actually physically altered the structure and colouring of your features, my medical scan found new bone in your cheeks."

Hound chuckled. "You find my information gathering abilities scary? I find your attention to details like that a bit weird."

"Really?" Harry had to ask.

"It would be more understandable if you were a decade older, or a veteran of the last blood war. As it is, you doing that comes across at being rather paranoid." Hound replied easily.

"Paranoid?" Harry murmured, thinking about it. "I'd rather say that I'm rather curious about things, with a tendency towards being well prepared."

"Prepared, paranoid, the only difference is how jumpy you are." Hound shrugged. "Common opinion is that the Unspeakables are somewhat paranoid, though with good reason."

"I've been described as paranoid myself at times." A voice chuckled, making everyone at the table, even Hound, jump out of their skins in surprise.

Harry swivelled around to see someone sat comfortably next to Loki – the raven familiar looking like he'd suffered a near heart attack just now – and was decidedly odd looking. In fact, Harry was trying to work out how the hell no one had noticed him making their way over towards them and sitting down amongst them.

"Origin." Hound said. "I see you managed to get here then."

"Hound." This 'Origin' person nodded his head. "It's not often I get a message, so yours did get my curiosity, and I was a little bored. I haven't done much for the last few centuries, so even a little thing like this managed to make me sit up and take notice."

"Excuse me, did you say centuries?" Hayate asked in surprise.

Origin chuckled. "I've been around for a _very_ long time, young one, since before what you refer to as the 'Belkan Empire', and even Al-Hazard is a recent event to me." All those present, except Hound, looked incredibly surprised at his mention of those specific topics, the other Unspeakable merely looked confused, though there was some exasperation in there too.

"I made contact with 'Witches and Wizards' before the Ministry was thought up, and even before 'Ancient' Egypt was a power in the world. Once every now and then, I receive a message from the Unspeakables asking for my assistance or advice in one matter or another, though I usually point them in the right direction and let them muddle their way through it, better than simply give them an answer." Origin shrugged.

"I was the one who contacted Origin, through means only the Unspeakables have access to." Hound nodded. "I requested his expertise in analysing how your cores differ from a regular witch's or wizard's core, as he is the expert in, well, everything really."

"Yeah, I guess I am." Origin shrugged. "Anyway, their cores are capable of Wizarding magic, but it will be terribly inefficient for them, their cores are structured so they act in line with the natural laws, and will find mathematically based magic, and those that are in line with muggle physics, far easier. Of course, with their massive reserves, the inefficiency won't be much of an issue."

Origin turned to Harry. "His core is a hybrid of the two separate structures, meaning he can easily utilise all magic as efficiently as any witch or wizard, with his reserves making him the victor in almost any battle of attrition." He turned back to Hound. "You also wanted me to examine his soul, correct?"

Hound nodded.

"It's very human." Origin commented. "However, there are signs that it isn't natural, like the lack of a soul's equivalent to an umbilical cord for example. Technically speaking, the boy is a magical creature, created though artificial means, like those chimera that Dark Lord from two centuries back favoured."

"I'm _not_ a chimera." Harry stated firmly, though there was a bit of a tremble to it for those that could hear it.

"Never said you were, just that you were like one." Origin blithely retorted. "Also, your soul is connected to the book girl there." He indicated Reinforce. "Once you finish your Wizarding puberty, at seventeen, you'll stop ageing and your lives will be bound together _forever_. That means if one of you dies, you both will, so it's fair to say that you're death isn't likely to be a pleasant one, either being killed violently or laid low by poison or disease."

_That_ was a bit of a shock to the system, especially with how casually this 'Origin' was speaking, and... Harry paused for a moment, wondering why no one else in the Midori-ya was reacting to anything that was being said, they weren't exactly keeping their voices down after all.

It only took him a few moments to find some sort of barrier around the table the group was sat at, though it felt very weird to Harry's senses, and he couldn't make sense of it. It wasn't like a Wizarding ward, but it was also very different to the barriers Mid-Childan and Belkan magic produced.

"Oh, noticed my bounded field, did you?" Origin asked. "Don't try and make sense of it, the whole thing is based on a very different structure of magic to the ones you're familiar with, and trying to comprehend it using your own knowledge of magical disciplines is an exercise in futility."

"What's a bounded field?" Fate asked.

"Think of it as being similar to a ward or barrier, but built off concepts rather than physical, conditional, or dimensional alterations." Origin told her. "Now, I think I'm done here, so I'll take my leave. Just before I set off here I heard a rumour that Ophis was making some group or other, Khaos Brigade or something..."

Muttering to himself, Origin got to his feet and left the Midori-ya, though Harry did take note of him as he left, mentally listing everything he'd noticed while he'd been there.

For one, Origin, despite his claims of being so old, looked to be approximately the same age as Harry, Fate, Nanoha, and Hayate. In fact, he was a few inches short of being five feet tall, and his 'petite' frame made him seem even smaller, like a little girl.

His long hair didn't help with that image, though it did stand out quite a bit due to being bright white, and looking rather ragged as well. His eyes had been odd, with lavender sclera, hexagonal red irises, and silver pupils, and when he had spoke, he quite clearly had fangs in his mouth.

He had worn a long, black coat, that appeared to have been made out of some material that bore similarities to dragon hide, and under that had been a plain black shirt and trousers, along with a pair of black boots on his feet. That, added to the black, vein-like markings that had been crawling across his exposed flesh, had made him look positively evil, or perhaps just 'gothic'. His silvery pale skin had only made those sickly markings stand out even more.

However, what stood out most to Harry was that he couldn't feel his magic at all. Even being a few feet away like he had been, and he had not felt even a drop of magic from him. That 'bounded field' thing he'd set up didn't seem to hold the 'flavour' of Origin's magic either, and that both concerned and worried Harry.

After all, there weren't many reasons someone might go to that much effort to hide themselves from detection, and those that he could think of off the top of his head weren't good.

With the way he'd just appeared out of nowhere, and the rapid breakdown of their cores and souls, Harry would be keeping a _very_ wary eye out for that particular Unspeakable, just in case.

xxxxx

Harry sighed as he looked out of the window.

Canada in summer was rather pleasant, and rather beautiful as well. However, he couldn't really get into it, too preoccupied with things that weighed on his mind. Part of it was hesitation about what he was actually doing, part of it was nerves, and another part of it was simply concern, not for himself, but those that were with him; Reinforce, Isis, Bast, Loki, all of them relied on him in one way or another, and he really didn't want to inconvenience them too much.

"Is there a problem?" A voice in the doorway asked, making Harry turn around.

"Nothing that I haven't been thinking about incessantly for quite some time now, Madam Bones." Harry responded.

"If you're sure." Amelia bowed her head. "Now, I am going to be busy for most of today, there's apparently some sort of festival going on that Susan and Hannah want to look around. You're welcome to join us if you want, but I understand if you want to spend time with your own... family, if that is preferable."

Harry chuckled lightly. "Yes, I think Isis would love to look around a festival with me, and Bast will also want to check out any food stalls there are, she does have quite the sweet tooth, no matter how much she tries to hide it. Reinforce, however, will be much happier in a book shop, and I think I saw one before we checked in here last night."

"And Loki?" Amelia asked curiously.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Loki finds far more enjoyment in spying on people, and is currently keeping an eye on the Potters. He told me that he'd warn me if we were likely to accidentally cross paths, so I can relax a little myself today as well."

"Just... be careful, Harry." Amelia told him. "James was quite 'trigger happy' – I believe that's the phrase at least – when it came to hexing and cursing people in school, and if he's wound up, things could be quite bad. We don't know how he'll react to you, but knowing him, there won't be much thinking going on when he delivers his first response."

"And Lily?" Harry asked.

"I remember her being a very curious girl, always wanting to know new things, and she did have more than a bit of a temper herself. I don't know what she's like now, but if she's anything like she was more than a decade ago, she'll have a very wide variety of spells available to her, though she did often get them mixed up, especially when she wasn't thinking straight." Amelia answered, before bidding Harry goodbye and leaving.

Another set of footsteps soon came to Harry's room, and it really said something that Harry could recognise it as Reinforce even without the strange bond the two of them shared.

The silver-haired woman sat down behind Harry, before leaning forwards and wrapping her arms around him.

The two of them remained like that for a while, simply enjoying the company of each other. It had been a while since it had been just the two of them. Usually, Isis at least was around, and as much as her antics made both of them smile, it was nice to have some peace and quiet with just the two of them as well.

Leaning forward a little further, Reinforce glanced at what was in front of Harry. In one hand, he held a notebook that had a number of notes and calculations on it, and she recognised it as Harry managing the money he had available to him, as well as several ventures he was considering investing in.

He was basing his ideas in that regard on how Mid-Childa and other Administrated Worlds had developed, as there were several common technologies that always seemed to do well. Telecommunication was almost always favourable, and technology in general was a good one, especially generic machines such as regular computers.

In Harry's other hand was a mirror, one connected to a scrying spell, a part of Divination Harry was very interested in, and on it was displayed a split image, half of it focused on Brian Potter, and the other half of it showing Rose Potter.

Reinforce's grip on Harry tightened slightly at seeing the smiling faces of the two oblivious children. _'That should be Harry_' a small part of her mind couldn't help but whisper, while another part she hated wondered if she'd still have met him if things had been different, if Harry _hadn't_ lived the life he had.

"Do you hate them too?" She asked quietly.

"Hate them?" Harry replied. "Why would I hate them? I don't even think I hate Lily and James, though I definitely feel rather bitter about things. Still, those two are completely innocent in all of this, Rose even more so than Brian, but I wonder... what will they think of me?"

"Do you want them to like you?" Rein prompted.

"I don't know." Harry told her. "Right now, you are my family, along with Bast, Loki, and Isis. Heck, I'd say even the Wolkenritter are more my family than those who share some similarities in their DNA with me. I don't know how I would handle things if they hated me, and I'm even less sure of myself if they started calling me _brother_ or something to that effect."

"Would you accept that, being their brother I mean?" Reinforce queried.

"What would I do? What does a brother do?" Harry shrugged helplessly. "I can cook, clean, and I'm learning to balance money. I know a number of magical theories, and even a rather vast, if I do say so myself, number of spells. However, all of my personal relationships are based off Mid-Childan and Ancient Belkan magic. For goodness sake, the two of us originally got close by you teaching me what you know."

"So teach them." Reinforce said simply. "I don't mean magic, but if they _do_ want you to be their brother, then do what you can for them. Look out for them, introduce them to new things, show them how to do things, help them when they need it. I know even less than you about familial relationships, so all I can do is offer advice like this and pray that it is useful to you."

"Thanks, Rein, I appreciate it." Harry smiled gently, leaning backwards into her embrace.

Reinforce's head tilted downwards slowly, as Harry began to inch up towards her face, the moment absolutely perfect. There was even a slight breeze that made their hair sway slightly, the silver strands catching the light and making a beautiful sight absolutely mesmerising.

Harry's lips brushed against Reinforce's for just a moment-

-when suddenly Isis collided with the doorframe.

"Hey, you two! What are you doing inside on a day like this? Come on out, there's this amazing festival going on righ- Oooooh! I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" There was a most definite undertone of perversity in her voice as she asked that question.

"No, Isis, you're not interrupting anything." Reinforce was the one to answer. "Let's go and see what this festival is like, shall we? I'm not doing anything right now, are you, Harry?"

"Nothing that can't be put off for a while." Harry replied, getting to his feet.

Isis said nothing as the three of them left the room, picking up Bast before heading out to the festival. However, she couldn't fail to notice how the two of them had their fingers entwined with each others for the rest of the day, or how the two of them seemed to lean into each other as they walked.

After all, did anything really need to be said?


	5. First Contact

AN: I wish I could make this chapter a little longer, but I kind of ran out of steam, and had to push just to get it this long. Okay, yes, first contact, Harry _finally_ meets some of his birth family, and Amelia gets involved too, etcetera, etcetera. I hope everything flows well, but knowing me, I'll have bolloxed something up along the way, so forgive me for whatever that is. I also hope Lily and James seem like actual people and not caricatures or whatever, and I haven't really finalised Rose's or Brian's personality, but the shape is beginning to appear here. Blegh! I'm tired, it's half five in the morning and- oh, one more thing, Origin in the previous chapter _is_ the Harry from my other fic series, Fate's Gamble. The reason for this is, despite the name 'Origin' being randomly plucked out of the air, a number of readers thought it would be him, and kept suggesting it until I literally could not think of it being anyone else. Think of him as an Unspeakable OC if you want to, he's not really relevant to this story at all, and the chances of him turning up again here are remote at best. So there, hope that makes you guys happy.

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 5 – First Contact

Isis gleefully danced from stall to stall, investigating something at each one, whether it be a trinket that caught her eye, or some snack that looked rather tasty. Despite her bright and sunny actions though, her attention was focused on the pair that followed slowly behind her.

Anyone, simply by looking at them, would be able to see that Harry and Reinforce were close. It was nothing overt, no 'matching outfits' or anything that simply screamed 'couple' or anything, but the way they slightly leaned towards each other, the way their hands brushed against each other, the way they discussed something that had caught the eye of one or both of them, and even the identical indulgent smiles they directed towards Isis whenever she caught their attention.

She felt a stab of jealousy at that.

It hurt a little, knowing that no matter how much she tried to be 'perfect' for her master, the one who'd given her another chance at life after Quirrel had cut it short, she would never be able to match up to Reinforce. For goodness sake, they even looked a little similar, especially with the broad silver streak in Harry's hair and his single red eye.

"Everything okay, Isis?" Harry asked, which made said unicorn familiar blink in surprise.

She looked up to see Harry eyeing her with concern, and Reinforce also looked worried about how distracted she was. The cat on Harry's head, however, Bast, gave Isis what could only be called a 'knowing' look, being well aware of what was on her mind.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just... you know, kinda worried about the whole 'Potters' thing." She replied with a shrug.

Harry and Reinforce exchanged a look – sending another stab through Isis' heart – before their features smoothed out and gave Isis a smile.

"It's something that's simply going to happen now, we've already come this far." Reinforce said.

"We're stepping into the unknown." Harry added. "It's logical to be worried, but if the worst comes to pass, at least we've got a back up plan, and a back up plan for that back up plan."

Isis sheepishly rubbed at the back of her head. "Yeah, I know. If Britain doesn't work, we have Japan, and if have to go further, well, there's always Mid-Childa, eh?"

"Exactly." Harry agreed. "Still, I want to give things a chance, so I can at least say I tried."

Isis chuckled, before swooping down to pick Harry up. She pulled him in close for a hug, 'accidentally' stuffing his face in her cleavage as she span him round several times before putting him back on his face.

"Oh, that's my adorable and awesome master for you!" She pumped her fist. "Don't worry about anything, your devoted servant Isis is here to attend to your _each_ and _every_ need." She purred out suggestively, one hand resting high on his thigh.

Harry's face was bright red, and interestingly enough so was Reinforce's, as he spluttered a moment, looking to one side.

"I'm too young for anything like that, Isis, at least wait until I'm older before even _mentioning_ it." Harry managed to get out.

"What, you need to be an adult to get a massage now?" She asked, pleased with the deadpan looks she got in reply, as well as the twitching eyes. "_Or_ did you think I meant something_ else?_ Oh, naughty, naughty, Harry! Though I wouldn't say no to that either."

"Okay, let's move on, we're attracting attention." Harry muttered, grabbing Isis' hand and dragging her off to where they _weren't_ getting stared at and whispered about by people walking by, or at least where the only reason they'd be stared at was due to their exotic appearance and Isis's...'lacking' attire."

"Yeah, but remember, Harry, if we _do_ go to Japan, the age of consent there is thirteen!" Isis giggled out, while thoroughly enjoying the grip Harry had on her hand, even if it wasn't romantic in nature.

"Damn horny unicorn." Harry muttered under his breath.

"And don't you forget it." Isis smirked at him, earning a huff of mixed exasperation and amusement from her master.

xxxxx

Rose Evans was running excitedly around the open air market with a big grin on her face. The reason she was so happy? Well, considering her own house was in the middle of nowhere, being in a town was simply so _new_, even if she had been to one several times before.

Her mum had given her some money to spend, told her that they would be meeting up at a certain restaurant for lunch later, and then she'd been set loose.. So, in typical 'kid' fashion, she'd left almost before her mum had finished talking, and had already started looking at anything and everything that caught her eye.

"Oof!" She found the breath knocked out of her as she collided with someone and fell on her butt.

Quickly getting to her feet and brushing herself down, Rose began to give her apology. "Sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was go- Brian?"

"Hmm? Something the matter?" The person she'd bumped into asked.

"It's nothing, you just look like my brother." Rose replied, taking another look at the boy in front of her. "I mean, he has black hair and green eyes, and he's about your height, and... Huh, I think that's it, why'd I think you were him?" She wondered, as she began to take note of the differences between Brian and the boy in front of her.

For one, Brian would _never_ let his hair get that long, saying that boys with long hair were 'sissies' and 'girly'. Also, this boy had a red left eye, which was kinda cool, and that side of his face also had a few faint scars on it. His eyes themselves were also slightly slanted, like a cats.

"Huh, you're kinda hot." She said, before realising what she said and clapped a hand over a mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that!"

The boy blinked in surprise. "Th-that's alright, it was an honest compliment, and I'm happy to accept it as such." He seemed taken off balance by her words, but then again, who wouldn't be? "Anyway, I think I should apologise as well, I wasn't really looking where I was going either, so it's not your fault that we bumped into each other."

"Ah, it's okay." Rose waved him off. "Let's just say it was both our faults." She was happy that the boy – who _was_ rather attractive, a small part of her mind couldn't help but admit – seemed willing to agree with her on that. "Anyway, where are my manners, after bumping into you like that I should at least give you my name. How do you do, I'm Rose Evans."

The boy gave her a curious look. "Your manners aren't lacking, there's really no need to introduce yourself to a stranger merely due to a small accident. Regardless, however, if you gave me your name, courtesy dictates I should give you mine. I am Harry, Harry... Ritter." He hesitated on the surname, though Rose barely paid attention to it.

"That sounds German." She commented. "Ah, not that that's a bad thing or anything..." She trailed off as Harry laughed.

"It does sound German, doesn't it, yes, and I'm not offended." Harry shook his head.

"Hey, Harry, where the bloody heck have you wandered off too!" A voice called out, one that must have been familiar to Harry, as he called out to them over his shoulder. It was at that point that Rose noticed the cat that was on his shoulder, and how it seemed to be staring at her with a calculating look in its eyes, making a shiver run down her spine.

"Over here, Isis, and _you're_ the one that wandered off, dragging Rein with you as well!" Harry admonished whoever was looking for him, though Rose could hear the amusement laced in his tone.

Rose turned to see who this 'Isis' person was, but when she did, her jaw hit the ground. 'Isis', it seemed, was a tall, leggy, woman, with waist length pure white hair, and intense blue eyes. This was not what caught her attention though, and no, it wasn't her generous chest either, it was how she was dressed.

The pale-skinned woman wore white boots that went up to just past her knees, as well as a small pair of white denim short shorts, and her upper body was 'clothed', if it could be called that, in a white, sleeveless waistcoat with a dip in the neck that left plenty of cleavage exposed, as well as her midriff. To finish it off, she wore white fingerless gloves, and had a single braid in her fringe.

"Talk about a knock-out." Rose whistled under her breath, but it appeared Isis had heard her anyway.

"Aren't you a little young to be talking like that? Aren't you, what, ten or so?" Isis asked, ignoring Harry's mutterings about how she usually acted around him.

"Yep, I'm ten, and I will be eleven this August, but what does that have to do with appreciating beauty?" She challenged.

Isis gave her a long considering look. "I think I like you, kid, you know what's good, and that's good with me." Isis gave her a grin, before she was whacked over the head by another woman, this one looking roughly the same age, maybe a little younger, than Isis. She had silver hair and red eyes, the same colour as the streak in Harry's hair and his left eye.

She wondered if they were related.

"Isis, no corrupting young children with your perversion, it's bad enough that you can't keep your hands to yourself, we don't need it spreading." The woman, Rose thought her name was 'Rein' or something, reprimanded the white-haired woman.

"But what if I want to be corrupted?" Rose couldn't help but ask.

Rein blinked in surprise. "Then at least wait until your older, and _away_ from this pervert." She said.

"Okay." Rose nodded. "Oh, and I'm Rose, Rose Evans." She introduced herself again.

"Isis Ritter." Isis introduced herself.

"Reinforce Ritter." The silver-haired Unison Device added on.

"Are you lot family?" Rose asked.

"Yes, you could say that." Harry agreed. "There's two more though. Loki's not here, but this here is Bast." He indicated the cat on his shoulder. "We're currently having a holiday of sorts, that's why we're in Canada."

"Really?" Rose asked. "Then I can show you around!" She ignored the voice in the back of her head that told her she didn't _really_ know the place all that well, but she at least knew it better than a group of foreigners would.

xxxxx

"Where is she?" Lily wondered, looking at her watch. "We said to meet up here for lunch at half twelve, didn't we?"

"Calm down, Lils, she's barely five minutes late, she'll be here soon enough. You know what kids are like, she'll have found something interesting and will head here straight away when she sees what time it is." James calmed his wife down.

"I knew we shouldn't have let her wander off by herself." Lily worried. "I mean, she has that hidden portkey in case something happens, and I _know_ she's really independent and everything, but I shouldn't have-"

"Calm down, Lily." James said again. "It's not the first time she's wandered off on her own, and she can take care of herself. Besides, everyone's friendly enough, and she knows not to wander too far away from the busy areas. If someone _did_ try and do something to her, they'd never get away with it unnoticed. Besides, weren't you the one who said we needed some alone time every now and then, without the kids?"

"I- I guess so." Lily admitted, deflating. "It's just... that..."

James wondered what was wrong with his wife, and then noticed that she wasn't looking at him, but over his shoulder, towards where the door was.

"Lily? James? Is that you?" A familiar voice had the blood in James' veins freezing, but he still managed to turn around.

"A-Amelia?!" Lily stuttered out, too surprised to even try and hide who she was.

"Who are they, auntie?" A girl by Amelia's side, her niece Susan, asked.

"They're Lily and James Potter, Susan, though what they're doing here, _and alive_, I don't know." Amelia's brow furrowed.

"Oblivi-"

"Expelliarmus!" Amelia barked when James Potter attempted to modify her memory.

Amelia knew she was safe to cast spells, as it was Loki who had directed her to this particular establishment, and he had assured her that things had been put in place so that no one noticed any magic being cast.

"James, you _did not_ just try and obliviate me there, did you? You know very well that such an action would bring down both the Canadian _and_ British ministries down on your head." Amelia spoke slowly, actually rather incensed that he _would_ try something like that.

"And there'll be none of that either."Loki said, plucking Lily's wand from out of her hand from where she'd had it under the table, as well as dropping the disillusionment charm he'd had active in order to sneak up on them. He still maintained a glamour that hid his true appearance however, in order to not have an obvious connection between Madam Bones and Harry.

"Mum, Dad, what's going on?" Brian asked, feeling more than a little off balance in this situation.

"It's nothing, sweetie, don't worry." Lily said to her son. "Just a mistake is all."

"A mistake?" The disguised Loki chuckled. "You call faking your own deaths and fleeing the country a 'mistake'?"

"What's he talking about, Dad?" Brian turned to his father, but it was Susan Bones that answered him.

"You don't know? But the story is world famous!" She exclaimed. "You-Know-Who was defeated by Harry Potter on Halloween eleven years ago, but he sadly lost both of his parents that same day, James and Lily Potter."

"What's that got to do with us though?" Brian asked.

"Your parents just so happen to be Lily and James Potter." Amelia answered the boy.

"Our name is Evans, not Potter, it's just a coincidence that Mum and Dad are named Lily and James, besides I'm not Harry, and I'm their kid." Brian answered. "I'm not Harry Potter, am I?"

"No, you're not, but you do bear some resemblance to him." Amelia once again answered. "And Evans is Lily's maiden name."

"Madam Bones, that's _enough!_" James said, slamming his hands down on the table. "I don't know what you think you're doing by coming here and doing this, but try anything else and I'll-"

"Do _what_ exactly?" Amelia asked him. "_You're_ the one who attempted to obliviate me just know, and as I recall you were also a suspected member of that vigilante group the 'Order of the Phoenix' too. I'm sure there's a few laws you've broken during that time, and don't get me started on just what methods you used to fake your death. Maybe we can even get you a cell next to your old school friend Black."

"Sirius is in Azkaban?" James asked. "Why?"

Susan answered this one. "Sirius Black is a murderer, he's infamous for killing a dozen muggles with a single curse, and Peter Pettigrew for trying to stop him."

"What? That's ridiculous." Lily spoke up. "As immature as Sirius was, he _hated_ the thought of killing. Pettigrew, the little rat, was the Death Eater. If anything, Sirius was trying to stop _him_."

Amelia raised an eyebrow at that. "Strange that, given Pettigrew received a posthumous Order of Merlin, and Sirius Black was sent to Azkaban, not just for that one act of murder, but for giving the Fidelius protected secret of your location to Voldemort."

Loki chimed in then. "Oh, what's this? Is this 'evidence' proving someone a Death Eater?" He asked. "You know, as Head of the Department of Law Enforcement, Madam Bones here is honour bound to bring it before the Wizengamot. Of course, when such a thing happens, you're current... status will have to be mentioned."

He chuckled somewhat maliciously. "I wonder how your 'friends' and 'allies' will respond to you turning your back on them like you apparently did. After all, Sirius Black was supposedly your brother in all but blood, and if you're willing to throw him to the dementors to cover your own tracks, well, it will make it very difficult for people to trust you at all."

"Stop it!" Lily cried. "Please! You just, just come here, and mess everything up, and-"

"And what?" Loki asked, a hard look in his eyes. "Did you think that everything you left behind would simply disappear? Did you think it didn't matter now, that it was no longer you're concern? If you did, you are wrong. Our past never just vanishes, and running from it doesn't help. Eventually, it _will_ catch up to you, and the longer you put off dealing with it, the worse things will be."

Loki headed towards the door, handing Lily's wand to Amelia on the way past. He threw one last comment over his shoulder before he left.

"Farewell." He said. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other soon enough, and perhaps then I'll be allowed to... 'play' with you."

Amelia looked at them with disappointment. "I think that I'm going to have to put an end to my trip." She sighed. "I was looking forward to having some time with just me, Susan, and Hannah, but it appears even when I put in holidays that I still have work to do. Goodbye, Lily, James, I wish you all the best."

She set their wands down, before leaving, taking Susan with her.

xxxxx

"Things have been put in motion now, all that's left is to see how they react." Loki reported, standing on a rooftop next to the rest of the group.

"Yeah." Harry sighed.

"Is there a problem?" Loki asked, looking to Reinforce for an answer.

The Unison Device bit her lip in thought.

"Harry's first encounter with his sister didn't exactly go how he envisioned it would." She told him. "It must be said that Rose Potter, or as she is called Rose _Evans_, is quite the character."

"She was pretty cool." Isis added. "I... don't think we have to worry about her having a negative opinion of Harry. I mean, I could be wrong, and she may end up despising him, but I think that is rather unlikely." She chuckled. "I think she's going to be more disappointed that they're related, the little pervert-in-training."

Loki raised an eyebrow at that, his lip twitching slightly. "She could always be into the whole Pureblood way of things."

Harry twitched and sent a glare at Loki. "Shut up." He said.

"Heh, that would be kinky." Isis commented.

"You as well." Harry added, turning his glare onto the unicorn.

"Girl not likely to be trouble." Bast then looked at Loki. "What about boy and parents?"

"I honestly don't know." The raven admitted. "I don't think Lily and James are going to act rationally, at least not without taking some time to calm down and come to terms with things. Given that you want this out in the open within the next two months, they may lash out, possibly, and somewhat probably, violently."

"And Brian?" Reinforce asked.

"He's confused." Loki replied. "He doesn't know what to think, and could quite easily be swayed to either side. However, he will almost certainly follow his parents' lead, and given their disposition, he is likely to be, at the very least, wary of Harry and ourselves."

"Troublesome." Harry sighed. "So unpredictable. Did you at least get a reading on them while you were there?"

"I did." Loki nodded. "Magically, they are both above average in strength. James' felt more 'refined', though Lily's wasn't that far behind him. Brian himself felt incredibly powerful, for a wizard that is, and I see him having the potential for some rather spectacular feats of magic in the future."

"What else?" Harry asked.

"Their reactions aren't good, but that's probably due to being out of practise, and lack of necessity. Now that Amelia has spoken with them, they'll likely be jittery, and may even be jumpy enough to curse first and ask questions later." Loki told him. "Lily had rudimentary Occlumency barriers, as did James, but I was able to slip a little bit out of their minds, though not as much as I would have preferred."

"It's to be expected, I guess. Occlumency isn't really all that common, at least to a high standard, but almost all Pureblood families instruct their heirs in at least the basics of it. I'm guessing either Severus or James taught Lily what she knows, likely the latter though, as Severus' mind is rather well defended." Harry mulled it over. "Add the memories to the Tome, perhaps there'll be something useful I can add to it."

Loki nodded and began the transfer. "It may interest you to know that I managed to tag both of their wands with that spatial displacement technique I've been working on. If it comes down to a fight, I can have them instantly disarmed."

"Useful." Harry complimented him. "I do, however, hope that it will not be necessary, though better safe than sorry I guess."

"Your safety is the priority." Bast sharply informed him. "Nothing else is more important to us."

That comment got agreeing nods from the other familiars. If it meant Harry lived and was safe, any of them would endure the most grievous of tortures for him. Death wasn't such a sacrifice, since he would be able to continually resurrect them when the Knight Program had been fully integrated with them, which would take several months to fine tune and check over, to make sure there weren't any mistakes or errors, but even without that they were willing to lay down their lives for his sake.

Harry knew this, he knew the lengths they would go to keep him safe, the depths they would stoop and not shed a tear, simply to keep him alive and well. It was something that, while aware of , he tried to ignore, to forget the level of loyal devotion they would show, and he attempted to give them a good life of their own.

He supported them in any hobby they may have, cheered on their every effort, and indulged in their vices, though that last one had limits to it, he wasn't going to buy all of the chocolate in Britain if Isis asked him to, or something else equally ridiculous.

An Ancient Belkan triangular array appeared beneath all of their feet.

"Let's go home." Harry muttered. "I need to think on how I'm going to approach them next."

xxxxx

James Potter, who had spent more than a decade hiding under the name of Evans, paced backwards and forwards, wearing out the carpet beneath his feet.

"Why?! Why?! Why was Amelia in _Canada_, of all places, it's not a massively big tourist destination, and wouldn't she want to take her niece some other place? An entire planet to explore, and she comes _here_. This stinks of a set-up." He muttered to himself, but still loud enough for Lily to hear.

"You think someone pointed her in this direction?" Lily asked worriedly. "But wouldn't a Death Eater or the like simply come to attack us themselves? If and/or when Amelia breaks the news, I'm sure the Minister for Magic will demand that we have bodyguards or something to keep us safe, right?"

"Bagnold would, just so she wouldn't look bad if we were killed while she was minister. She was replaced by Fudge, remember him? Brown-noser who tried to get in with all the influential kids, couple years above us in Hogwarts?" James asked.

Lily furrowed her brow. "The one who Sirius pranked with the salt shaker and the chocolate gateau?" She asked.

"Yes, that's the one." James confirmed. "He'll try and set us up with bodyguards, but they'll be nothing but pathetic yes-men that can't tell one end of a wand from the other no doubt. He'd give us the ones he'll _think_ are good, but we'd be better off looking out for ourselves."

"Then what do we do?" Lily asked.

James stopped, before turning back to Lily. "It looks like we're going back to Britain no matter what, so I might as well call in as many family favours as I can before the Potter name gets dragged through the mud. I'm pretty sure the Ogden family owes me one, and there was something with the Moons a couple centuries back, and my great-grandmother was a Grafton."

"Dumbledore!" Lily exclaimed. "Dumbledore can help us."

"The Headmaster? Yes, he'd lend Voldemort a hand if he said he was sorry, so we'll have no trouble there." James agreed with his wife. "If worst comes to worst, we can always shove that prophecy in his face, both Brian and Rose were born on the last day of July, and he'd be tripping over himself to provide protection for us."

"B-But isn't, well, _Harry_ at Hogwarts?" Lily asked, squirming in her seat.

James froze. "Of course, how could I forget?!" He slapped his forehead. "If we blow Voldemort's secret out into the open, and claim we were escaping retribution or were compelled to do so, we can turn things around, and once the vessel is destroyed, the Wizengamot won't be able to apologise quick enough, and everything will be tidied up nicely. Lily, you are a genius!"

"Ye-Yeah, I am." Lily agreed, not really happy with the thought of destroying her child's body, even if it was currently a meat suit being used by Voldemort's spirit.

"We're going to have to act fast though." James kept talking to himself. "I don't think we can get to Britain before Amelia does, so that's out of our hands, but it does give us time to work everything out. Maybe I can re-open one of the Potter properties, there's a few of them lying around unused, maybe get a house elf or two to sort it out."

"How quickly can we move though?" Lily asked. "We've got lives here, a home, though not many friends." She finished awkwardly. That last point was there because, one, their home was in the middle of nowhere and their neighbours were literal miles away, and two, Peter's betrayal still weighed on their minds when they first came here, precluding them from casually forming attachments to people.

"We're going to have to do something within the next few weeks, a month at most." James said. "It'll take a little time for Amelia to get back to Britain, and then Sirius out of Azkaban." He paused and punched the wall. "Damn it! What the hell is Padfoot doing in that place?! He should never have gone there! Maybe we should have brought him with us when we made our move."

"Sirius was too invested in the fight to leave." Lily reminded him. "He- He really wanted to be the one to take out Bellatrix, prove he wasn't Dark like his family was. He wanted to make things better, he wanted to get rid of all the corruption and the taint."

James snorted. "Like that's possible. Britain is, and has been for some time, an absolute mess. Only way to sort that out is to kick all of the rotten eggs out, like the Lestranges, Macnair, that ponce Malfoy, and all of their little toadies and minions. Maybe then Britain would have a chance, but it'll never happen, they'll just put some money into the right pockets and it'll all be swept under the rug."

"Are we really Potters?" James and Lily jerked around to see Brian and Rose in the doorway, the former being the one who had asked the question.

"Yes, we are." James answered before Lily could say anything. "We're an old and proud family, and we can trace our lineage back to the time of King Arthur and Merlin, before even Hogwarts castle was built."

"So why're we using the Evans name?" Rose asked distractedly.

Lily sighed. "You know, of course, the story of the 'Boy-Who-Lived', but the story is just that, fiction."

James nodded his head. "The truth is far less pleasant, and it's not something that either myself or your mother of proud of. However, at the time we viewed it as a necessary... as a necessary evil."

Lily took over again. "You see, Brian, you weren't born as an only child, you had a twin. The problem was, only one of you was born alive. There were complications with the birth, and Harry, your brother, died mere minutes before being born."

"How?" Brian asked. "Why?"

"The Umbilical cord." Lily answered. "It was wrapped around your neck." She saw the look on Brian's face and nodded. "Yes, your neck, not Harry's. It was caught before it did any damage to you, but it then got caught around Harry's neck afterwards, and on top of that, my cervix was swollen. I'd taken a hit earlier that day when a Death Eater raid was launched on Diagon Alley."

"We still don't know what curse actually hit your mother." James said. "But it lingered, and made giving birth the regular way impossible. Instead, they had to do what is known as a caesarean operation, literally cutting you out of your mother's body."

"Like I said just now, the umbilical cord was wrapped around your neck, but we got it loose." Lily continued. "The curse damage, however, affected my muscles badly, and I... contracted at the wrong moment, and the cord wrapped incredibly tightly around Harry's neck."

"There was nothing we could do, Lily was jerking and twitching all over the place. She almost died herself." James added. "By the time we had her sorted, Harry was dead."

"But how does that lead to... that night?" Rose asked.

James and Lily shared a look, before the former decided to just go for it.

"There was a prophecy that was made, and as much as your mother and I think that divination is unreliable, if not worse, we thought we could use it as a trap. After all, there's many ways a prophecy can be interpreted, and we thought we'd hit upon a winner, one that would mean no one else had to die." He gulped, feeling slightly sick at what he was telling them.

"We turned our stillborn child into a magical bomb." Lily spoke in a broken voice, her expression one of anguish and pain. "Even then, it wasn't enough to put Voldemort down permanently, we should have known that."

"Tell us, Dad." Brian near-demanded. "Tell us everything, we _deserve_ to know."

Rose frowned. "I think we need to know." She added.

In the youngest Potter's mind danced the image of a boy who looked a bit like her brother, someone who had a sad and conflicted look in his eyes, and she began to wonder...


	6. Harry the Necromancer

AN: Okay, so things are going to get big and complicated from here on out, and I'll start expanding the Harry Potter world with my own original creations. I hope they're up to snuff, and of course that you all enjoy what I write. This chapter wasn't the easiest bit to write, as it's a bit of a bridge chapter, connecting what happens before with what's going to happen afterwards. Things are going to get messy, and if there are any of you that have read the Harry Potter books and know a little something about law, then I would love your help and advice on how to go about writing out everything that's going to happen; from court appearances, to the media battles, to the social side of things, to the tension that'll be raised a few knots, and so on and so forth. I hope I make it work, but please, if you know something that'll kick my backside and punt me in the right direction, I would love you long time, yo!

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 6 – Harry the Necromancer

"Big bro, what do you think of what Mum and Dad said?" Rose spoke up as she and Brian went upstairs to bed, leaving their parents downstairs.

"I dunno." Brian answered. "I mean, Mum and Dad must have done some pretty nasty stuff to set up that trap of theirs, but at least it was for a good cause, and it did stop Voldemort at least."

"Not that." Rose shook her head. "What do you think about Harry... our brother?"

"I don't know about that either." Brian answered. "Mum and Dad are really scared about it all, but... it's been, like, eleven years since then, yeah? You'd think that if Voldemort was going to do something, he'd have done it by now, wouldn't he? I mean, he would have done something as a little kid, when no one was really watching him, instead of after he got to Hogwarts and everyone was trying to be chums with him, wouldn't he?"

"That... that makes sense." Rose agreed hesitantly. "But bringing the dead back to life is supposed to be impossible, even I know that."

"Magic is supposed to be impossible." Brian replied. "And I didn't say Harry was alive. Maybe he's like those moving paintings, or the mirrors that talk back to you, like a... a..."

"An AI?" Rose guessed. "You mean he's a golem or something?"

"Yeah, that." Brian agreed.

"Would he still be our brother then?" Rose asked.

"I dunno." Brian shrugged. "Probably not legally. You _know_ that the first thing that Dad's going to do is cast him out of the family and strip him of the Potter name." He paused. "I can't believe we're actually the Potter family though, it feels weird not calling myself an Evans."

"What sort of person do you think he is?" Rose questioned, getting her an odd look from Brian.

"You're really thinking a lot about this, aren't you?" He said. "But, again, I don't know. I mean, it's not like we've ever met the guy, and all we know about him is what anyone knows really. If it was me, though, and I found out about this stuff, I'd probably be angry, really angry."

"Do you think he won't like us?" Rose persisted.

"He might, I guess, or he might not. I mean, it's not like he knows us, and he might think we're just like Mum and Dad." Brian answered. "Mum does always say not to judge a book by its cover though, and... I think I'd like to give the guy a chance, just one, and see what he's like." He then frowned at Rose. "Where are all these questions coming from anyway?"

Rose looked down, like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Still, she answered her brother.

"I met someone today, and at first I thought I'd bumped into you. He said his name was Harry Ritter, and I'm wondering if he's actually Harry _Potter_. You know, our brother?" She explained.

Brian blinked in surprise. "Huh, really? It would be one hell of a 'coincidence' if he was here just when Mum and Dad were found out."

"You think he's the one who found us and got Madam Bones here?" Rose asked.

"Doubt it." Brian answered her. "He's, what, exactly the same age as me? I don't think he'd have the means to do that."

"But if he had found out or believed something wasn't quite right..." Rose prompted him.

Brian shrugged. "Then he might have tried to point someone – perhaps someone like Madam Bones – in that direction, and she, or someone else, found us."

"So it _could_ have been him?" Rose pressed.

"Well, yeah, it could, but it also might not have been." Brian answered. "Though, if it is him, I wonder why he didn't just confront Mum and Dad straight away." He shrugged. "Why don't you tell me about him? If it really was Harry, it's best to know as much as possible before doing anything."

"Okay." Rose agreed. "Well, he called himself Harry Ritter, and he looked a little bit like you, but not, like, he had this streak of silver in his hair, and..."

The two eventually went to Brian's room to finish that conversation, Rose telling her older brother everything she could think of about 'Harry Ritter', all while their parents discussed, made, and dismissed various plans regarding what to do now that their secret was out.

xxxxx

The next morning, if one was to look, they would find an Ancient Belkan array appear on a rooftop, before suddenly being filled with a small group of people. Of course, given that it was barely dawn, there really wasn't many people out and about at all, and none of them in a position to see this happening.

"Summon: Beelzebub the Swarm." Harry said, before said golems suddenly appeared around him.

With a mental command, they scattered, heading out to keep an eye on everything, like a massive number of security cameras or something. With them, Harry would be able to keep track of the Potters and react to whatever they decided to do now that their secret was known.

After he'd sent them out, the group wandered off to a park they'd seen the previous day, where they decided to relax. Harry took a seat on a bench and began to page through his Tome of Shadows, looking at some of the things that had been added, but that he had yet to read.

Loki took a seat on the bench next to Harry's, or it would be more accurate to say that he laid across it. While he was like this, he took out a notebook of some sort, which he proceeded to write in. Harry's eyes flickered over to it curiously, but he didn't ask what it was, Loki would let him know if and when he wanted to do so.

Isis laid across the same bench Harry was sat on, with her head on his lap. Bast had settled on the unicorn's stomach in cat form, and the two of them seemed to be enjoying playing around with a cat toy, with Isis twitching it about the place while Bast batted a paw at it.

Reinforce, instead of sitting down, stood several feet away. She had her eyes closed as she listened to the dawn chorus, before gently adding her own voice to the mix, singing along with the birds. Her actions gained her a soft smile from Harry, as well as a shake of the head from Loki, and a huffed breath from Isis.

Harry frowned at some of the things he was seeing through his swarms' eyes.

"It looks like Lily and James hit the alcohol pretty hard last night." He commented out loud. "There's bottles everywhere, and they're passed out in the front room."

"You managed to sneak one in the house?" Loki asked, surprised, as they hadn't quite worked out how to get the golems inside without tripping certain wards.

"No." Harry replied. "They forgot to close the curtains, I'm looking through the window."

Loki chuckled. "Of course."

"If you aren't going doing anything until they wake up, you could always finish your homework." Reinforce called out, stopping her singing for a moment. "I know you've done most of it, but didn't Flitwick and Mcgonagall both give you those extra credit additions?"

"They did." Harry responded. "I'm having a little trouble with the Charms stuff though, I can't find a reference to 'Advanced Biological-Magical Hybrid Charms and how they were used in Ancient Cultures' in my Tome at all, and I'm thinking that this is something of an obscure branch of magic.

"I can carry a message to Beth and Septima if you want, one of those two may know something." Loki offered.

Harry snorted and rolled his eyes. "You just want to flirt with them, don't you? I swear, if you or they were serious about it, your relationship would be considered rather creepy and weird."

Loki raised an eyebrow and looked over to Harry. "Oh, and I suppose your 'relationship' with Reinforce and Isis isn't weird? Your oh so 'platonic' relationship?" He replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm and suggestion.

Interestingly enough, Reinforce blushed bright red at that, and some of her thoughts began to leak over to Harry, who also started to turn red.

"Mind out of the gutter, Loki." Harry growled.

"Hey, you started it." The raven shot back, earning a huff from his master.

"I don't mind a non-platonic relationship with my precious master." Isis called out, loud and clear.

Harry sighed, thankful that there wasn't anyone in the park to hear the provocatively dressed unicorn's comment. He didn't reply, deciding to simply settle down and get on with what he'd already been doing. The others followed his lead, each of them relaxing in their own way as they waited for something to happen.

xxxxx

"Let's see where they're going." Harry murmured when things in the Potter/Evans house began to actually happen.

"What can your swarm see?" Loki asked, suddenly attentive and focused.

"Lily is packing things up and shrinking them." Harry told him, his eyes flickering as he mentally cycled through the views his swarm could see. "James is saying something to Brian and Rose, though I can't say what as his back is to the window. Oh, he's finished and is heading out the door now."

"They're already moving?" Reinforce asked with a frown. "They were only found out yesterday, what sort of plans could they have made so far, especially if they were drunk?"

"James has apparated away." Harry spoke up. "Let's see if any of my swarm can see hi- there he is, at the Canadian Ministry."

"Can Beelzebub follow him in there?" Isis asked. "Wouldn't there be wards to stop spying going on?"

"Only in certain places." Loki answered her. "Private offices, record halls, cells for prisoners, and courtrooms are the main ones. Beelzebub can at least follow him through most of the Ministry."

"And I am following him." Harry added. "It's times like this that I'm glad Beelzebub doesn't make a buzzing noise like a regular insect does, and that it's actually smart enough to stay out of sight."

"Keep an eye on him then, let's see where he's going. I have my suspicions, but... I'd like to have them confirmed." Loki said.

Harry was silent for a short while as he watched James through his swarm, also keeping an eye on Lily, Rose, and Brian too.

"Magical Transport." Harry said, when he saw where James had gone. "I'm trying to read the form he's filling out... International Portkey, and to Britain as well."

"This is all going rather quickly all of a sudden." Reinforce frowned.

"If he's doing this legally, it'll take a minimum of three days for the portkey to be authorised." Loki said. "Crossing borders isn't something done at the drop of a hat after all." He paused as everyone gave him a deadpan look, reminding him just what they did, and fairly frequently at that. "Okay, crossing borders is something you should be more careful about at least."

"As I have Japanese and British citizenship, I can jump between the two legally." Harry muttered. "_And_ our time here in Canada is registered as a holiday, so I've covered all of our bases." He pointed out.

"Oh?" Harry sat up, chuckling. "It seems James is trying to bribe- sorry, _emphasise his need_ – to the worker at the desk."

"Is it working?" Loki asked. "And can Beelzebub record things?"

"The desk attendant isn't completely shutting him down, and yes." Harry replied.

"A regular worker wouldn't earn much in the Ministry, so I can understand trying to get a bit extra into your pocket, but I can't imagine the higher ups would be too happy with them." Reinforce commented.

"The attendant is female, and - I really can't believe I'm saying this - James Potter seems to be quite the charmer." Harry's expression as he said that last bit made it look like he'd just swallowed a lemon.

A few minutes passed with Harry conveying what was going on with James and the attendant. While that was going on, he had an extra two wasps fly into the Ministry and meet up with the one watching the pair of them.

"He's finished." Harry said. "They'll have that portkey tomorrow. The desk attendant slipped his form into a small pile from two days ago, a group of businessmen apparently." He paused, a slightly evil grin appearing on his face. "I wonder what Lily would make of her Husband's method of persuasion."

"Probably not too mcuh if it's an isolated event like this, and they _really_ seem to want to get back to Britain." Loki said. "However... is it possible to keep some of your swarm out and keeping an eye on him at all times?"

"No." Harry frowned. "It's either all of them or none of them. If I wanted to do something like that, I'd have to create a new golem to follow him and record what he gets up to, maybe add a rune array to it that'll drain ambient mana to recharge itself with. Something the size and simplicity of an insect wouldn't take much to maintain it."

"How long would it take you to create something like that?" Loki asked intently.

"Hmm, from the same metal I make my golems from? Too long. From another material... oh, I have an idea." Harry said, catching sight of a spider web on a nearby tree.

Loki watched as Harry checked over the spider, his curiosity rising, especially as Harry then looked over at the three dead insects caught in its web.

"It looks like this particular spider is perfect, and it's already dead so I don't have to kill it myself." Harry murmured, though he was clearly audible.

Isis sat up, Bast going from her chest to her lap, and everyone looked at Harry was he brought out ink and a paper clip. To their surprise, Harry straightened the paper clip out and then jabbed it into his finger, drawing blood, which he then mixed with the ink.

He then, as carefully as he could, began to draw absolutely tiny runes onto the insects. It took him a while, but thankfully no one seemed to be coming to the park, and all the Potters were doing were clearing out all of the stuff in their house. Oh, James did go to Gringotts, though what he did in there Harry didn't know, as his swarm couldn't get in without tripping a dozen wards, _at least_. However, he assumed it was something to do with transferring their money back to their London vault.

"Almost done." Harry muttered, after he was done drawing tiny runes onto the dead insects, and dried the ink with a quick blast of heat. He then jabbed his finger again, this time getting quite a bit more blood out of himself. He soaked the insects in his life fluid, and even poured a few drops down their throats, before pushing just a tiny amount of magic into them.

"Woah!" Harry called out, falling backwards. "Spiders see things rather differently to my wasps."

"Harry, what did you just do?" Isis asked, clueless about what sort of magic he'd just used.

He looked guilty for a moment, before answering. "It's a very minor bit of necromancy, nothing illegal though. I, basically, made zombie insects that I can use as my eyes and ears in places. The bit that really makes it necromancy, instead of an animation technique, is all of the blood I used. That facilitated the creation of a very crude, very basic magic core, with which they can sustain their own bodies, so long as they consume something."

"Any reason you chose the word 'consume' out of all of the possibilities?" Loki asked, but it was Rein who answered him.

"It doesn't matter what they eat." She said. "Matter will be broken down into energy, rather efficiently too, and it even gives them a limited degree of regeneration, as they can transform matter into the substances their bodies are made of to patch themselves up. Calling them 'zombie insects' is actually pretty accurate."

"That sounds nasty..." Loki commented, before becoming silent for a moment.

"Harry." Loki began slowly. "Did you use some of this branch of necromancy when creating your Vritra the Serpent golem from the basilisk's skeleton?"

"I did." Harry admitted.

"That does explain a few things regarding how unique that golem is compared to the others." Loki nodded. "I had thought it was just because it was made from an organic material instead of metal."

"You're not... angry that I used necromancy, are you?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Angry? No." Loki answered him. "What you did to Isis, Bast, and Myself could technically be called a form of necromancy, and as you are the product of necromancy yourself, I haven't got anything against it. What makes you different to the Potters is that you are actually being responsible for what you've done, and not abandoning things and running away."

He paused for a moment. "I won't say I'm not surprised though. I knew you read up on a lot of 'forbidden', old, and partially forgotten magic, but I didn't think you'd put too much of it into practise. We'll have to have a chat later, see just how far you've gone with them, but I don't have a problem with you actually doing it, so long as you know what you are doing."

"Question." Isis piped up. "Just how durable are those zombie bugs, and can they get through wards?"

Harry turned to her and answered. "They're not as durable as metal, as they are, after all, insects, though they are the slightest bit tougher than they were in life. As for wards, the only ones they will trip are pest wards, and maybe not even that, depending on how the ward has been set up. Even then, knowing there's a magical pest somewhere in the house and finding it – especially if it's intelligent enough to stay hidden – is no easy task."

"Why the hell do people not use these things if that's the case?" Loki asked. "They'd be so damn useful during a war, or even as a means of keeping tabs on suspects, or the like."

"Well, necromancy does have a rather bad reputation." Harry admitted. "There's not many who really look into it either, and then there are those that are 'skittish' about using dead bodies for magic. On top of that, insects just aren't all that intimidating, are they?"

"The way you use them, they are." Loki shot back at him. "Can you imagine just how bloody terrifying you would be with even a single hive of bees under your control, or a massive number of ants, or, heck, even butterflies could be turned into a monstrous army of flying zombie critters."

Harry shrugged. "I think the only time necromancy has been used in recent wizarding history is with inferi, which are animated human bodies. It's visually horrifying to fight your own species like that, _especially_ if they're someone you know well."

"Ah, yes, psychological warfare." Loki nodded. "As I understand, Voldemort used that a lot during the last blood war. He also put his name under Taboo, making it so anyone that spoke it would nigh-instantly be attacked by his loyal little minions. He accepted creatures of fear such as dementors into his ranks. He performed a number hit and run attacks on his targets."

"Yes, yes." Isis waved Loki off. "Voldie was good at what he did, we know that, but I don't think that's a path our master wants to walk down."

"No, I don't." Harry agreed. "Minor bits of necromancy like this, I'm fine with, but I doubt I'll ever try and revive a sapient being, there's just so much that can go wrong, and it's not like anyone's ever been successful. Some of the catastrophic failures that have happened due to certain experiments are, to be blunt, terrible."

"Hmm." Loki began muttering something under his breath, as if he was working something out, before shaking his head and addressing Harry. "Well, if all of that's done, shall we get going? Unless, of course, you want to make more zombie insects? After all, the more the merrier, no?"

"That was a bad joke, Loki." Harry face-palmed. "As for more zombie bugs, I guess it couldn't hurt."

"Well then, let's get collecting then." Loki said, grinning at Isis, who everyone knew wasn't too fond of creepy crawlies.

xxxxx

"You know, when I mentioned a 'swarm' of bugs, I didn't quite mean it literally." Loki commented when Harry sent the last wave on their way.

"Oh, shut it, I only made six dozen in total." Harry replied, though there was an undercurrent of amusement in his voice.

"That's still plenty, and with that number around, it's likely that one or more of them are going to be discovered." Loki remarked cautiously.

"The risk is still minimal. It'd take someone looking _very_ close indeed to see that their not completely normal bugs, and if one is destroyed beyond its ability to restore itself, the crude magical cores I gave them using my blood will go critical, causing their bodies to melt like acid." Harry told him.

"And that makes _everything_ better." Loki rolled his eyes, not missing the identical looks of amusement on Harry's and Reinforce's faces.

"Yes, it does." Harry chuckled, before turning more serious. "The Potters are moving faster than I expected them to. I thought they would debate and argue for at least a day or two, dithering about regarding the issue first. However, we've just been given something of a golden opportunity."

"What opportunity is that?" Loki asked.

"We know where and when that portkey will go off." Harry answered. "Do you realise what that means?"

Loki frowned in concentration for a moment, before his eyes widened in understanding. "That's pure evil." He said. "They're going to want to try and build up their power base as soon as possible, but you're going to set journalists and reporters on them from the very moment they touch British soil."

"Yes, I want to keep them off-balance." Harry confirmed. "If I do that, then they'll have trouble building much of a case against me as one of Voldemort's horcruxes, and as I already have those backing me... Well, I can assure you, things aren't going to be too easy for them for a while."

"You should be a politician with thinking like that." Loki commented.

Harry shook his head. "No, I'd rather not have to smile at someone I want to stab, thank you very much. Also, as much as I have planned, this 'collision' with the Potters is going to be by no means easy. While I _am_ the 'Boy-Who-Lived, I can quickly become vilified rather than revered."

"Is it really going to be that hard?" Isis asked, worried for her master.

"Yes, it is." Harry replied. "Remember, I am technically a magical creation, one brought to life, we believe, through necromancy. The stigma associated with that is going to be quite bad on its own, but if the Potters can get enough people to believe my soul truly is Voldemort's, then things become substantially harder."

"On the other hand, the Potters are also in a difficult position." Reinforce chimed in. "Their actions, while not directly illegal, caused a series of unfortunate events. Also, if they truly believe that Harry was Voldemort, and they fled regardless and didn't tell anyone, they become accessories to our 'crimes'."

"Of course, anything written in a law book is pretty much useless." Harry grumbled. "There are three things that matter to the Wizengamot; Standing, Influence, and Wealth. If I make a good enough showing, and present myself appropriately, that will sway them to my side more than mere facts would."

"The Question is how will they present their side?" Isis said, going over things in her head.

"Correction; how will _James Potter_ present their side?" Loki chimed in. "Lily is a muggleborn, and while there won't be outright discrimination in a courtroom, such a thing will still count against her if she tries to present things herself."

"Yes, Loki's right." Harry admitted. "James Potter, as much as he was a bit of a 'rebellious' teenager – or so I've heard – is also a pureblood, with a Black for a mother, and he would have had to take etiquette lessons and the like as a child, simply so he doesn't embarrass the family at parties and other events."

"I see." Isis nodded. "So, if the Potters are moving that fast, shouldn't we head back and start building up our defence about now?" She asked. "We can put as many obstacles in their way as we can while we're at it."

"Yes, we should do that." Harry agreed. "Is everyone ready?"

He received several nods as everyone gathered around him.

"Then let's go!" He called, casting the Dimensional Transfer spell that would take them back to Britain.

xxxxx

"Have we got everything out of the attic, dear?" James called up the stairs to his wife.

"I think so." She called back. "There's so much here that I'd forgotten we even had! Do you remember when we were looking everywhere for that old tea set your mother adored? I found it tucked away in a corner up here, under goodness knows how much dust!"

"That's good, I'd hate to leave that behind." James shouted, while he levitated several chairs into a box before shrinking it.

Everything was utter chaos around the 'Evans' home right then. Magic made things so much easier, but it was still a lot of work that needed to be done. James was also wondering about the intelligence of doxies and other pests. Ever since they started packing thins away, the pest wards had been going off every now and then. It was like they knew the house would soon be abandoned, and they were already moving in to try and stake their claim.

"Rose, have you got all the plates and cutlery packed away yet?" The man of the house asked.

"Not quite yet, Dad." His daughter's voice echoed from the kitchen. "I need a box for all the glasses and tumblers though, they won't fit in here too."

"I'll conjure you one in a minute." He replied, before raising his voice so his son upstairs could hear him. "Brian, how's things going with you?"

"Slowly, Dad." Brian responded. "I have to keep track of whose stuff is going in which box and labelling everything. I think I found some old dolls that must have belonged to Rose in the back of the airing cupboard, shall I stick them in her box or the misc one?"

"Misc, you know your sister's never even looked at them. We can probably give them away to charity or something when we get back to Britain." James told his son.

James looked around at the now empty room, or at least empty aside from the packing boxes he'd conjured.

It felt really bare, but... for some reason, he wasn't too upset about leaving Canada behind. His true home always had been, and forever would be, Britain. If it wasn't for Voldemort's vessel still wandering around, he'd have returned there years ago.

If he'd done that, Sirius wouldn't be in Azkaban, Brian would be going to Hogwarts, the same, awesome school that James himself had gone to. If he was back in Britain, he might have been a Quidditch player, playing in the big leagues, but because he couldn't afford to be recognised, that opportunity had been denied to him.

It was all the fault of that damn Voldemort. Why couldn't he just die like a normal person? Why did he have to desecrate his son's body farther than he and Lily already had. It had been difficult enough making him into a magical bomb in the first place, and Lily even now was reluctant to destroy what had come from her own body.

Why must that bastard torment them so?

James swore that if it was the last thing he did, he would make sure that Voldemort died, and that he absolutely, bloody stayed dead this time. He would pay any price to make sure his family would live in a world without the dark tosser in it, and he would start by figuring out how Voldemort had taken control of his son's corpse, and destroying it!

A sound drew him away from his dark thoughts, and James saw a bug land on the windowsill, a regular, mundane bug.

In disgust, he hit the thing with a hex, blasting it apart and knocking it into the garden.

If he'd bothered to take a second look at the bug, he would have been both surprised and horrified to see the main body of the beetle regenerate from its fatal wounds, before returning to its vigil, watching over the patriarch of the Potter family.


	7. Diagon Alley

AN: Not much longer until the gang is at Hogwarts now. Actually, the end of the next chapter _should_ have them either on the train or at the sorting. I'm still somewhat unsure about what to do with certain things, from how to handle the Potters to Harry's potential transfer to another magical school, to the political fallout, etcetera. It's actually the last one I'm most worried about as, to put it bluntly, I'm not a political person, and I'm afraid of screwing it up. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and suggestions are always welcome. The Shade is based on the design from Warcraft 3.

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 7 – Diagon Alley

Bathsheda Babbling was drinking a morning mug of coffee when the Daily Prophet arrived the next morning. She barely glanced at it while giving the delivery owl a knut. However, once she did pick it up and actually looked at the article on the first page, she nearly choked on her drink.

"Sep! Sep! Come down here and read this!" She called up the stairs to Septima Vector, who soon came to see what the fuss was all about. Her eyes also went wide as she saw what Beth was talking about.

"What is this?" She asked.

"Doesn't the title 'Potters Alive – Patriarch charged with Assault' sort of give it away?" Beth scoffed. "It seems someone gave the Prophet a tip off about something happening at one of the International Portkey locations, and it turned out to be Lily and James Potter returning to the country, and _with children of their own._"

"Harry?" Septima asked.

"That's the thing, neither of them are Harry." Beth exclaimed. "One looks like him, but more normal. Look at the picture, his eyes don't have the same slant Harry's do, his hairs shorter, it's all black, and his eyes aren't separate colours."

"He doesn't have the scars either." Septima added, looking at the picture. "Then this means-"

"That Harry _isn't_ an orphan like everyone thought." Beth finished. "However, it also means that Lily and James buggered off out of the country for some reason, though I've got a good guess as to why they're back."

"Harry." Septima stated. "As much as it's a possibility, I doubt they have his interests in mind, and I worry for the kid. Do you think we should invite him back here for a while? It can't be easy, learning his parents are alive, not after the life he's had."

Beth paused there, a contemplative look in her eyes. "Unless... he already knew that they were alive." She muttered. "It's possible that Harry's the one that drove them back to Britain, and let's face it, he's vindictive enough, and intelligent enough, to strike while the iron's hot."

"Are you suggesting that Harry's behind this?" Septima asked. "Is he getting some form of revenge against Lily and James?"

"Look, neither of us know exactly what happened that Halloween night." Beth bluntly told Septima. "What if Harry found out, and what if he didn't like what he found? We both know he has some rather strange magic he uses, so it's quite possible he learned about his past or something, or even used it to locate them."

"I think you've been reading far too many conspiracy theories." Septima told her long time best friend.

"They amuse me, so there." Beth childishly stuck her tongue out at Septima. "Still, don't you think Harry seemed rather... focused on something at the end of last year? This happening now feels like too much of a coincidence."

"A lot of things seem like too much of a 'coincidence' recently." Septima snorted, before frowning. "A... friend of mine in the Ministry's Education Department did let something slip the other day though, apparently Hogwarts is getting a handful of new students this year, third years. They're Japanese, and apparently were somehow 'missed' by the usual methods of picking up new muggleborns."

"Third years?" Beth raised an eyebrow. "The year Harry will be in this September, from a country we know Harry spends some time in, and a country that had some odd things happening in several years ago. Come on, Sep, you've got to admit that _something_ weird is going on, yeah?"

"Yeah, I'll agree that nothing about Harry ever seems normal, okay?" Septima rolled her eyes. "That still doesn't mean these new students have anything to do with him, though I'll let you have the Potter thing as a maybe. Anyway, what was that about 'assault' in the title anyway?" She asked, suddenly remembering what she'd read.

"Apparently, James Potter tried to obliviate a Ministry Official, though there's no details about it. I'm thinking that one's embellishment. James Potter was a horny school boy, but he was by no means an idiot, and even he would know that there'd be no getting out of that one." Beth replied.

"Uh-huh." Septima agreed. "Well, if he did or not, I think I'd rather see how Harry's dealing with things. In fact, I'll send him a letter right now, you want me to add anything from you?"

Beth shrugged. "Ask if he knows those new students we're getting, I'm sure you're capable of writing some comforting words for the two of us, but I'd like to know if he does know them. Oh, also ask him if he has time to visit some time before September, he's always welcome here."

"You know, if we keep acting like this with Harry, all it'll do is fuel those rumours going round." Septima replied.

Beth shrugged. "Rumours are rumours, and with Harry being the 'Boy-Who-Lived' then they're to be expected. Besides, he makes a nice friend, more mature than his age would suggest, yet not without that childish curiosity that allows him to question things. I don't have many friends, so I won't ignore one of them due to a few stories."

Septima chuckled. "Yeah, me neither. I think I'll go write that letter then, be back in a minute."

"I'll put the kettle on." Beth said, already heading over to said appliance.

xxxxx

"Hey, anyone have any idea what Harry's doing?" Hayate asked the room at large, having spent the last quarter of an hour watching Harry, who seemed to be staring at something only he could see, his eyes occasionally flickering as if he was focusing on something new.

"I don't know, but it seems a bit... weird." Nanoha replied. "Maybe it's a magic thing we haven't learned yet."

"We could just ask him." Fate suggested hesitantly. "I don't think he'd deny us, unless it was something really personal."

"I'd say we should ask one of Harry's knights, but I haven't actually seen any of them all day." Hayate said.

"They kind of disappeared when that official looking letter turned up." Nanoha told her, having seen the bedraggled and tired owl arrive. "They didn't look happy about it, more like really, really angry. It was weird as well, like they were expecting it to happen or something."

Lindy then entered the room, a tray of snacks for everyone in her hands. She paused for a moment, seeing the three girls watching Harry, and a small smirk developed on her face.

"You know, girls, I think it's traditional for the _boy_ to stare at the _girls_ like they're a slab of meat, but if you want to reverse the trend, who am I to argue?" She chuckled at the mortified look that Fate had, and the cherry red blush that Nanoha gained. Hayate's dirty old man laugh, however, might have been cause for concern.

"I-It's not like that!" Fate protested. "We were ju-just wondering what he was doing, an-and where his familiars went. That's it!"

Lindy had to hold herself back from cooing over Fate, she was just too cute like that. However, the subject matter did make her face fall into something more serious.

"Harry's knights went to where the house is being constructed, and after that they're heading off-world, where they can properly vent their frustrations. As for what Harry's doing, I couldn't say. Maybe it has to do with how his Herakles golems are currently putting their house together?" She indicated the bracer on Harry's left arm, where said golem card could be seen, and it was active as well.

Nanoha frowned. "What do they have to vent about?" She asked.

Lindy didn't reply immediately, wondering if she should tell them or not. "The letter they received earlier, it was from the European Wizarding Bank. The goblins, as well as banking, also deal with inheritance, which is kept separate from the government. The letter, well... it was basically to inform Harry that he had been officially disowned by his father, and that he no longer had any claim at all to the Potter name or any artefacts belonging to the family."

"They, they kicked him out?" Fate asked quietly. "Just like that?"

Lindy sighed, not at all happy discussing this, especially with Harry only a few feet away, though it seemed his attention was elsewhere at present.

"Yes, they did." Lindy replied. "Fortunately for Harry, they'd already prepared for this, and now his name is officially Harry Ritter. Being nameless in the Wizarding World, from what I've read and been told, is a very bad thing, and even having a new name is going to have a big impact on certain things. Now, I don't think I need to tell you girls this, but I think Harry might need a friend to help him through this difficult time."

Nanoha nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yes, I can be a good friend!" She declared.

"I'm here if he needs to talk." Fate added, though a lot softer than Nanoha had.

"Maybe tickling him would make him laugh?" Hayate giggled, before starting to 'sneak' over to said boy to administer her 'treatment'.

She sneaked until she was barely a foot from Harry, hovering over him, as he was sitting on the floor, when his hand shot out and caught her by the wrist. His eyes, it seemed, had come back into focus, and there was a slight grin on his face as he saw the pouting face of Hayate above him.

"Nice try, Hayate, but you got too close to me and disturbed my magic, letting me know someone was getting rather too close for comfort. Next time, try and be quicker about it and you might get me." Harry said.

"Aww, you really need to teach us how to do that." Hayate pouted.

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's not so much a thing you 'learn', as it is something most don't really pay attention to. Everything magical is constantly leaking tiny amounts of mana, and those that pay attention to it can feel when their ambient mana shifts slightly. Practise a little, it's easier for those with a lot of mana, and that means you."

"At least my reserves are useful for something." Hayate grumbled good naturedly, before fixing Harry with a look, plopping herself down on his lap. "Now, why don't you tell us what you were just doing, ne?"

Harry sighed, still getting used to the antics of the touchy-feely girl, though Isis' own actions had made him somewhat used to all of the physical contact.

"Nothing much, really." Harry told them. "I was just keeping an eye on a few things."

"Such as?" Hayate prompted him. "And how were you doing it?"

"The house that's being built." He answered. "My golems can put walls and such in place by themselves, but it's a good idea to check things are going smoothly every now and then. I was also checking out what the Potters are doing right now, and I have a few more bugs scattered around."

"Bugs? Magical spells used for reconnaissance?" Lindy asked curiously, her professional side wondering just what they were capable of.

"Not really." Harry said slowly. "I'm actually looking through the eyes of... I guess you'd call them zombified insects, and other assorted creepy crawlies. I mostly use spiders, beetles, and a few types of flies."

"Ew." Lindy grimaced. "That sounds rather gross."

"It's necromancy, which isn't a subject most even read about. It's considered somewhat taboo in most of the world, even if it's not actually illegal. However, it is a very useful branch of magic, and I'm becoming rather fond of it, especially now I know that I'm a product of necromancy." Harry replied.

"Necromancy's about raising the dead." Fate spoke up. "Can it actually do that?"

Harry blinked in surprise. "Physically, yes, it can." He told her. "However, it can't bring back someone's mind. If you resurrect the dead – and do it properly, not using a puppetry technique like an inferius – then they'll be as coherent and rational as they were in life, but they'll have exactly zero memories, though a few habits might remain, things like biting fingernails or posture."

"I... see." Fate frowned. "What would happen if you used a necromancy technique on someone still alive?"

"That depends." Harry answered her. "If it's an instant technique, the living person would be instantly turned into a zombie, though a higher quality one than if you used a corpse. However, if you use a delayed technique... you get rather different results."

"What results?" Lindy asked, rather worried about where Fate's train of thought was going.

"Well, apparently, in ancient Greece, spells were layered on the hero Herakles upon completion of his twelve labours that rendered him immortal. Personally, I believe he was actually layered with necromancy that would activate when he took a fatal wound, restoring him to health, acting more like an instant regeneration instead of an actual resurrection." Harry replied.

"Something like that is possible?" Hayate asked with wide eyes. "You could make someone immortal like that."

"Well, in theory it's possible, but Herakles is the only known success." Harry said. "Personally, I think that a potion was used to enhance the necromancy that he had cast on him, most probably something that involved Re'em, dragon, and mermaid blood. Of course, getting your hands on all of that isn't easy, nor is it cheap."

"Isn't there a colony of mermaids in the Hogwarts Lake?" Nanoha asked.

"Merrow, not mermaids." Harry told her. "Actual mermaids are rather few in number. If the magical world actually had such a thing, I believe they'd be listed as an endangered species. However, I do know there's some mermaids in Japan that actually sell vials of their own blood, it's incredibly useful for a number of powerful healing potions."

Everyone looked disgusted at that.

"Do potions really have all of that nasty stuff in them?" Nanoha was the one to ask.

"Yes, and a lot of potions taste rather foul." Harry bluntly replied. "However, they _do_ work, which is what is important. Regular pharmaceuticals contain things which substances which occur naturally in plants and animals, the only difference is that they're produced artificially, rather than being created naturally."

"But medicine comes as tablets, or flavoured syrups, and other stuff, not _potions_." She complained.

"Like I said, it works, and as a qualified medical practitioner, I'd rather think my opinion has some weight behind it." Harry couldn't help but be amused at how the girls were reacting to the thought of 'magic potions', especially given they knew just what sort of ingredients went into them.

"You're a healer?" Lindy asked.

"I haven't taken an oath, if that's what you're asking." Harry replied. "However, I have done two years of study under Madam Pomfrey, who is a fully qualified healer herself, and I'm hoping to do some advance studies this year. I've mostly focused on spell damage and cursed artefacts, though I'm not far behind them when it comes to creature induced injuries."

"Have you compared how healing differs between magic systems with Shamal?" Lindy queried.

"Yeah, I have." Harry answered. "I actually gave her some of the medical texts to look through, and I know she found some of the concepts in there rather interesting. Of course, given that Wizards think that things like surgery and stitches are barbaric, there's quite a bit that can also be added to that side of the equation."

"I see." Lindy said, even though healing really wasn't her speciality. She was asking questions to engage Harry in discussion than anything else, he was being rather quiet right now, and she was a little worried about him. "Oh, I've just remembered, I have the school book lists here, have you got yours yet?"

"Yeah, I do." Harry replied. "When do you want to go and get everything? No matter when we go, things are going to be pretty hectic, especially with, well, you know..."

"The Potters." Lindy finished. "Hiding yourself away, however, will only make things worse for you though. It's better if you're seen doing something 'normal', like your shopping or something. It'll be harder to make you out to be a monster if you're doing ordinary things, no?"

"Yeah, I guess." Harry sighed. "I also need to find another way to keep an eye on the Potters. If my zombie bugs keep tripping the pest wards then _someone_ is going to get suspicious sooner or later. The thing is, I don't know what to replace them with."

"Your golems and insects both trip wards, if different ones?" Lindy asked, getting a nod from Harry. "Then is there another type of being you could create and/or ask to do it for you? Even something else... necromantic?" She hesitated over that last word, not sure she should be encouraging necromancy or not.

Harry went to reply, but paused, biting his lip. Ignoring Hayate, who was still sat in his lap, he retrieved his Tome of Shadows, quickly finding something in it. He was silent as his eyes rapidly flickered over the information, before he released a sigh.

"There is... something that could replace my insects, but-" Harry abruptly stopped.

"But what?" Nanoha asked.

"It's a step further into necromancy, the summoning and binding of spirits." Harry explained. "That's looked down on even more than my zombie insects would be. However, unlike the bugs or my golems, they could get right past the wards, not to mention they're invisible on top of that."

Fate frowned. "Something like that sounds like it'd be very good for assassination, is that why they're looked down upon so much?".

"No, at least the type of spirit I would summon isn't suited for that, as they're literally incapable of interacting with the physical world." Harry shook his head.

"Then why is it such a bad thing, there must be a reason for it?" Hayate prompted.

"Well, most people simply aren't powerful enough to call on spirits easily, so they must make it easier... or create said spirits themselves." Harry hesitated. "That means either conducting the summon in a place connected the the Astral plane, such as a graveyard, battlefield, or somewhere else that is tied to death, or by sacrificing a life to fuel the creation of a minor spirit."

"It's the sacrifice bit that causes it to be called 'dark and evil', isn't it?" Lindy asked with a grim look.

"Yes, it is." Harry acknowledged. "The binding of a spirit isn't illegal in the wizarding world. House Elves are basically enslaved brownies, and the Dark Mark the Death Eaters sport is, from what I can tell, a modified slave marking."

"That sounds nasty, especially the slave stuff." Nanoha frowned, really not liking the 'darker' side of magic.

"You know, technically, the Wolkenritter are enslaved spirits bound to Hayate, and familiars are the same for their contract holders." Harry decided to add in. "I know you don't treat them like that, but it _is_ technically true. A mage can cancel a familiar contract, ending their life, any time they wish to, and the Knights _were_ bound to the Tome of the Night Sky and the will of the one who held it."

Hayate looked down at that. "That's not so true any longer." She said. "Since Reinforce did her... suicide thing, the knights are now actually independent of the book, and they only follow me because they swore themselves to me, not because they are forced to do so."

"Hmm." Harry tapped the page in his Tome, before sighing. "If we're going to be going to Diagon, it might as well be sooner rather than later. Also, I think I'd prefer to know whether I can actually do this summoning or not first."

"Are you going to try it right here and now?!" Lindy asked in surprise.

"Better here with you lot, who can defend me if something goes wrong, than off by myself where anything can happen. Besides, I'm only going to try and summon the weakest spirit I can, and if I actually get it right, it'll be pretty fragile and easy to handle with raw mana attacks, like the ones your magic system favours." Harry explained, getting to his feet after moving Hayate off him.

"I... suppose." Lindy agreed hesitantly, deploying several scanning spells so she could record what Harry was about to do.

Hayate, Fate, and Nanoha all got up and backed away, their devices appearing in their hands and their barrier jackets forming on their bodies. If something was going to happen, they wanted to be prepared for it, even if they didn't really know what to expect.

Harry also manifested his barrier jacket, but left his device in the form of his gloves for now, it wasn't like a physical attack would do anything against a spirit after all. He clapped his hands together, before spreading them out, like he was addressing a great audience, and began to chant.

None of the onlookers knew what Harry was saying, just that the language he was speaking was harsh, and they flinched as the sounds seemed to almost assault their ears. If this was a result of simply _using_ some of the more intermediate steps of necromancy, they could see where it got its bad reputation from.

A circle of magic appeared on the floor in front of Harry, strange, arcane symbols around the edge. Like with the words he spoke, simply looking at the runes gave the girls a headache, and once again, they didn't understand a single thing they were looking at.

They looked to Harry, who didn't seem to be in the best of conditions. He was sweating heavily, and his breathing was slightly laboured, his skin pale and tinged with blue and grey. Still, he did not slow down, his chanting remaining constant and even.

Suddenly, black smoke erupted from the circle, and a voice that spoke a language none of them knew, yet forced its meaning into their head, sounded out.

"The damned return." That was what the voice said, and when they looked in front of Harry, they saw what it was he had summoned.

The spirit possessed a torso, arms, and head that were all vaguely human, though hunched over and roughly triangular in shape, and the arms were long and thin, but instead of legs, it just had a single point, like a spike that pointed down from the waist. It hovered in mid-air, seemingly supported by a billowing, black mist. It was black in colour itself, aside from the bright, violet eyes.

"You... you are the... shade I summoned?" Harry asked, panting for breath, and rising to his feet after having fallen to one knee during the small ritual.

"I am, master." The shade stated in an ominous, echoing voice. "What would you have me do?"

Harry used his device to call up a picture of the Potter family. "I want you to invisibly follow this family and monitor them, particularly the man. Can you do that?"

"I can." The shade responded. "Where is this family now?"

"England, I have several minor zombies spying on them as we speak. I will take you there myself shortly, once I have recovered." Harry told the shade.

"I understand, master, and I obey." The shade bowed to Harry, before vanishing from sight. Only Harry, as the one who summoned the shade, saw it took up a position at his shoulder, like a bodyguard would.

He sank into a chair, and placed one hand over his rapidly beating heart. "That was more difficult than I thought it would be."

"What _was_ that you summoned?" Lindy asked. "I was expecting a ghost, or at least something that resembles one."

"Ghosts aren't true spirits." Harry replied. "They're imprints, the remains of a personality tied to the planet, which supports their existence, and they find it difficult to move from one place to another and stay there for longer than a few days. What I summoned was a shade, a spirit that is doomed to forever wander the Astral plane feeling unfulfilled. They actually benefit from being summoned, as it gives them a sense of accomplishment, and this plane of existence is a lot more pleasant than the Astral plane is."

"What can shades do?" Lindy asked, already mentally preparing a report for the TSAB on the different types of spirits that exist on Earth.

"They can become invisible and are able to detect anything invisible or hidden themselves. Even when visible, they are incapable of making physical contact with anything, and they're generally used as scouts or spies. They can either be summoned, or they can be created from a living sacrifice. They have a very strong tendency to be loyal to those who summon them, and they can't be hurt at all by physical attacks." Harry rattled off the basics, before handing his open Tome to Lindy, which had more detail on it.

"Does he have a name?" Nanoha asked. "And how can you tell what gender a shade is anyway?"

"Shades are genderless." Harry replied. "Also, shades usually wish to forget their lives and are likely to take it badly if someone tries to help them remember something of their past."

"So it looks like we're going to Diagon Alley then?" Lindy asked. "Well, give it a few hours, England is eight hours behind Japan, so if we head off this afternoon or evening, it will be morning or the middle of the day there."

"Works for me." Harry shrugged, glancing over at the others. "I'll either head off earlier to show this shade where the Potters are, or hang back a little later and do it then."

"Are you sure you don't want us along, not even for moral support?" Nanoha asked.

Harry frowned. "I'm actually a bit hesitant being seen out with you before Hogwarts starts. If this thing with the Potters collapses on my head, it could quite easily drag you down as well, you know."

Fate lightly whacked him on the head. "We're your friends, Harry, and friends stick together."

"Yeah!" Hayate added, pumping her fist in the air.

Harry chuckled lightly. "Thanks, girls, it's good to know you've got my back."

He settled in to wait, everyone else settling down as well. They played a few games to pass the time, in the process finding out that Nanoha seemingly had some sort of divine luck that helped her get out of whatever situation she was stuck in, while Hayate's luck was apparently bi-polar, either helping her greatly, or failing her when she needed it most.

Lindy took a few pictures during this time, fully planning to add them a photo album at some point in the future.

xxxxx

As they were preparing to go to Diagon Alley, Harry's familiars and Reinforce arrived, having finished venting their anger. They were interested in meeting Harry's shade, who refused a name, preferring to be referred to as simply 'a shade'.

Those who actually went to Diagon Alley were Harry, Fate, Nanoha, Hayate, Lindy, and Loki, who had his wings hidden. Oh, Arf was also there, held in Fate's arms in her 'puppy' form. Reinforce was also present, insofar as she had returned to being inside of Harry, ready to unison with him at the first signs of danger.

"This is annoying." Lindy commented, seeing almost everyone in the alley stop and stare at Harry when they noticed he was there.

"I told you that you should have let me use a few misdirection charms." Harry grumbled back. "Now we can't even slip away to apply them, so I at least have to deal with all of the staring."

"I honestly didn't expect it to be this bad." Lindy said, a slight tone of apology in her voice.

"It's alright." Harry sighed, before something caught his attention. "James Potter just apparated into the alley, I'll be back in a moment."

Somehow, Harry managed to slip away from group, weaving in and out of the crowd with little difficulty. While everyone was looking the other way, Loki shifted into raven form, flying after Harry, only to land on his shoulder.

Harry, whispering under his breath, pointed James Potter out to his shade, which stopped acting as his silent, invisible shadow, and attached itself to James Potter, partially literally, so now if he apparated away, he would take the shade with him.

However, it seemed that Harry had gotten too close. As James Potter tried to make his way through the crowded street, he felt himself knock against someone, sending them flying. He looked over to the side to apologise, before continuing on his way, but the words died in his throat, and a disgusted sneer appeared on his face.

It was that damn vessel! Of _course_ it would turn up today, on the day he intended to go to Gringotts.

Harry looked up at James Potter in faked surprise. "Oh, so it seems the rumours are actually true, and my parents are alive." He said.

"You are no son of mine!" James hissed. "Why must you torment my family so? Why couldn't you just die?"

Harry frowned. "What are you talking about? How am I tormenting you, and why do you want me dead?"

"You know what you are, Voldemort, and you will _never_ be a Potter, even if you possess my dead child!" James declared, before storming off in the direction of Gringotts.

Whispers about what James Potter had just said, in the middle of Diagon Alley no less, were already beginning to spread, but Harry quickly thought up something to counter it.

"Wha-?" He choked out, tears beginning to leak from his eyes. He let his fringe fall in front of his face, and made himself look as pathetic and pitiable as he could. This, combined with his young age, soft features, and good lucks, really tugged at the heart strings of some of the people watching.

One old lady even went so far as to step forward and hug Harry, who slowly and hesitantly returned it.

"Th-thank you." He stuttered out.

"Don't mention it, deary." The woman said. "I don't know what he's put in his pipe, but you're about as much You-Know-Who as my handbag is. Now, why don't you run along and finish your shopping before he comes back?"

"I- I will." Harry smiled slightly, before making his way through the crowd and back towards Flourish and Blott's.

_~ You really can act, can't you? ~ _The telepathic voice of Lindy called out to Harry.

He mentally snorted. _ ~ That was all improvisation, I didn't expect to get rammed like that. ~_

_~ At least public opinion is swayed in your direction a bit. ~_ Fate joined the conversation.

_~ The question is, will it be enough? ~_ Harry replied. _~ Somehow, I don't think it will be. ~_

_~ You're a pessimist, aren't you? ~_ Hayate chided. _~ We all all know the solution for that though, don't we? Pure, undiluted Nanoha! ~_

_~ Hey, you're making fun of me, aren't you? ~_ Nanoha joined in.

_~ Let's just get the books, potions supplies, and basic necessities, shall we? We've barely been here half an hour and I already want to go home. ~_ Lindy cut them off.

_~ I can get all the books at once, and the rest of the supplies too, if you want to take the girls to get fitted for their robes. ~_ Harry offered. _~ That would help get everything done faster, if you really want to be out of here as quickly as possible. ~_

_~ I can grab the potions ingredients and basics, such as telescopes and scales while Harry hunts through the book store. ~ _Loki added.

_~ Let's do that then. ~ _Lindy agreed. _~ Just be careful, okay? ~_

_~ Will do. ~_ Loki acquiesced.

_~ Sure. ~ _Harry added.

xxxxx

When Lindy stepped into Madam Malkin's with the three girls, she saw that there were customers there already. There was girl approximately the same age as those with her, as well as what appeared to be her younger sister. Lindy assumed the two adults who weren't measuring them up were her parents.

"Hello, robes for Hogwarts?" A friendly looking woman asked them.

"Yes, please." Lindy said.

"No problem." The woman smiled. "So, who's first?"

Nanoha ended up being the one to go first, followed by Hayate, and then Fate.

While Nanoha was on the stool, getting measured, she decided to try and be friendly with the other girls.

"Hello there, I'm Nanoha Takamachi, may I ask who you are?" She introduced herself.

The smaller, and probably younger, girl smiled back. "I'm Astoria Greengrass, nice to meet you."

_'Greengrass.'_ Lindy thought to herself, mentally going over everything that Harry had told her about the big names in the Wizarding World. The Greengrass family was strictly neutral in all things, a lot of their businesses revolved around imports and exports of luxury items, were one of the most wealthy families around, and were descended from druids, so they likely had some unusual bits of magical knowledge stashed away in their family's grimoire.

The older girl, Daphne, was also someone Harry was acquainted with, though not particularly closely.

Lindy watched silently as Nanoha easily chatted with the excitable younger girl, though out of the corner of her eye, she kept an eye on Daphne and her parents. The Greengass matriarch and patriarch both had indulgent smiles on their faces as they saw Astoria talking non-stop, though Lindy would swear there was a tinge of sadness in the woman's eyes as she looked to Daphne, who was not really responding to Hayate's attempts at conversation well.

The bell above the door tinkled a quarter of an hour later, and in walked Harry and Loki, several trunks carried between them. Undoubtedly, the trunks were for Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate, and all of their stuff would be inside them, probably packed away neatly if Harry had been the one doing so.

"Potter." Daphne greeted Harry on seeing him, her manner cold and aloof.

"Greengrass." Harry returned the greeting, yet without the same tone and mannerisms she had used, though he did grace her with a curious glance.

"Have you read the Daily Prophet recently?" She asked.

"I keep up to date." Harry replied, already having a feeling he knew where this was going. "Am I to understand that you're referring to the apparent status of my... parents?"

"Apparent status?" Daphne latched onto that bit in particular. "So you believe they may be fake, a ruse? Perhaps so, it would not be the first time someone has pretended to be Lily or James Potter in an attempt to claim your family's assets, or even guardianship over you."

That was useful to know, and not something he'd been aware of.

"Whether they are real or not, it will soon be proved one way or the other, so the best option is to simply wait and see what happens." Harry said.

Lindy watched this as well, and personally found it adorable. In her mind, it seemed that Daphne was trying to learn the mannerisms and skills of a politician, using her school time as practise or something. She did wonder where such a thing had come from, but really, it wasn't any of her business, was it?

Instead, she focused on the surprise Birthday party they were planning for Harry at the end of July.

Hopefully, he would enjoy it.


	8. Last Days of Summer

AN: Okay, I tried to write an emotional bit in this chapter, I don't know if it worked, but I hope it did. Comments on that would be wonderful. I'm exploring my characters and development more in this story than I did my original attempt at writing (Fate's Gamble) so that's proving a little difficult at the moment, but I hope I get better. Oh, for those who played on the PlayStation One, there should be enough evidence in this chapter to suggest what first inspired me to add the necromancy aspect to the story, so cyber-cookies to you who can see that. Apart from that... I hope you enjoy it is all I can really say.

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 8 – Last Days of Summer

"He's at Hogwarts." Sirius Black murmured to himself once again, staring at the Daily Prophet in his hand.

"He's at Hogwarts." He repeated, his gaze not leaving the picture on the front page.

"He's at Hogwarts." Once again came from his mouth as he glared daggers at the rat sat on the red-haired boy's shoulder.

CLANK!

An echoing noise that any of the rational prisoners in Azkaban Prison would recognise – meaning very few – resounded throughout the structure. Sirius Black didn't pay much attention to this, too busy repeating the same phrase over and over again while staring at the paper.

However, when the sound of footsteps reached his ears, the man managed to pull himself together enough to see who it was. This wasn't normal, and that is what caught his attention, the only time anyone with feet came here was to either add a new prisoner, remove their dead body, or at the yearly inspection, as even the food was delivered by dementors.

The echoing footsteps came closer, a small group from the sound of it. Sirius wondered what they were here for, it wasn't often a new person was incarcerated in this particular section of the prison, and he hadn't heard the rattling 'voices' of the dementors, which always got louder when someone died, the damned things probably trying to suck up the soul before it faded away or something.

He was taken by surprise when the group stopped in front of his cell.

Amelia Bones, he remembered her from the war with Voldemort, Edgar's sister. From what little he'd heard since he'd been confined in Azkaban, she'd replaced Crouch as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. With her were a handful of cloaked people, Unspeakables? Why had she brought Unspeakables with her instead of Aurors?

"Sirius Black?" Amelia spoke clearly to him, her eyes narrowed as she took note of how sharp his eyes were, how much of his sanity he'd managed to retain while in Azkaban.

"Yeah, it's me, Amy." Sirius languidly replied. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm here to take you to a holding cell, some inconsistencies have turned up regarding your imprisonment." She told him, but that was as good as useless. Of course if she was coming to him it was regarding him and his imprisonment, 'inconsistencies' was about as vague as you could get too.

"What sort of inconsistencies?" He asked her in reply.

"You'll find out soon enough." Amelia's eyes focused on the newspaper in his cell, one that had come out only the day before news about the Potters being alive had been reported. "Do you have anything you wish to say or a reasonable request?"

Sirius' mind was racing. If he truly was getting out of here, Peter wasn't likely to hang around where he could be seen. If that happened, his chances of catching the rat became virtually nil. However, could he trust the rat's location to Amelia, would she even believe him?

Amelia watched as Sirius picked up the newspaper and threw it through the bars and at her feet.

"The rat on the boy's shoulder, it's an unregistered animagus, Peter Pettigrew by name." Sirius' eyes focused intently on Amelia's. "Don't let him get away!"

Amelia returned Sirius' gaze with a her own iron resolve. "I won't."

xxxxx

Harry looked over the structure that his Herakles golems had just about finished building. It was fairly large, but relatively simple too. There was a large, square courtyard which was surrounded on three sides by buildings. Immediately in front of him was a two story building, which had a total of eight generous sized bedrooms, not overly massive, but definitely a home with enough space.

On Harry's left was a general storehouse, which they'd probably end up using as some sort of attic or loft equivalent, and another building, which had two rooms in it, one set up for rituals and one as a potions workshop. On Harry's right was an outhouse, and an incomplete shell of a building which had no specific purpose yet, which the golems would be finished constructing within hours at most.

Harry tilted his head curiously to the side, looking at a grinning Isis who had quite a firm grip on his arm.

"Any particular reason you wanted me to come here right now?" He asked her.

Isis looked down at him with wide, soulful eyes – that would probably have been more effective looking up at him – and pouted. "Can't I spend time with my favouritest person ever?" She childishly asked him.

"Of course you can, but the fact I can feel anticipation from Reinforce kind of makes me a little suspicious." Harry responded dryly.

Isis huffed, spinning Harry around slightly until he was face to face with her. She then proceeded to draw Harry into a tight embrace, pressing her chest against his, 'accidentally' letting her leg get between his and press against his rather personal area.

Harry stiffened up, not entirely sure how to deal with what was happening. He knew, as did anyone with eyes, that Isis was rather... attracted to him, and her devotion to him was frankly scary, but he didn't know how to really handle that, especially given how he didn't know how he felt himself.

As any any straight teenager with hormones, he found Isis physically desirable, just the same he found Bast attractive, or Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, even Signum and more. It was something he couldn't help, his attention was simply caught by the numerous attractive females he knew.

On a more emotional level, he was at least somewhat fond of Isis, though to what degree was uncertain. He felt responsible for her, as he was the one who made her what she currently was. True, he had saved her life in the process, but it had been he that had changed her without even trying to see if she would even want that, there simply hadn't been enough time for that.

With his hormones, it was difficult to say whether he truly 'loved' Isis to any degree romantically, and to what level he liked her like that. On top of that, Reinforce's emotions and thoughts influenced Harry's due to their link, and separating what was Reinforce and what was Harry was no easy task, even he couldn't tell if he was ever completely successful.

That link also meant that it was nigh impossible for Harry to really have a stable relationship with someone other than the Unison Device, as the two of them were bound so tightly that they _needed_ to make decisions together, and often existed in one body, even if not as one being.

"Isis..." Harry murmured.

Isis didn't respond verbally, but her hold on Harry did tighten. She leaned forwards, onto Harry, who fell backwards with her laid on top of him. Isis' leg that wasn't between his own was drawn up against Harry's on the outside, essentially trapping one of his own.

"Isis..." Harry tried again.

He stopped when Isis' arms gripped him even tighter than before, the unicorn familiar seemingly trying to fuse her body to Harry's, she was that tight against him. He could feel every contour and curve of her body as it was pressed against his. He could feel her warm breath on his neck, as his head was tucked against her shoulder.

Then he felt a droplet of liquid.

A tear.

"Master." Isis whispered. "Harry. I'm right here, and I always will be. Whatever you want me to do, I will do without question. I will kill for you, I don't care. If you are a god, I am your most loyal angel. If you are a demon, I am your worshipper. If you ask me to prostrate myself naked at your feet, I would. If you wished me to rip out my own fingernails, dig out my own heart, tear open my own throat, you have just to say. I would do all these things because you are everything to me. I... I _want_ you, master, won't you accept me?"

Her voice shook at the end of her short monologue, and Harry could feel tears starting to dampen his shirt.

He brought up his arms and wrapped them around his first familiar. His throat was tight, and he didn't know what he should say. He felt Reinforce worry as she felt his emotions through their link, but he asked her to give him a little time to work through things right then... but he also said that they would need to talk later, and soon.

"Isis." Harry managed to get out her name once more. "I don't really know what to say. That level of blind devotion, it scares me. I don't need sycophants, I don't need willing slaves. When I turned you into a familiar, I only meant to save your life, that was what was important to me, and it still is."

She mumbled something unintelligible into his hair.

"If... if you _really_ want to stay with me, of course you can, don't ever think you can't." He continued. "I just... I don't know what I feel. You know what teenage boys are like, what with their hormones and everything." He awkwardly tried to inject a little levity into things to lighten them.

"If that's what you want, then take me." Isis replied. "You can screw me however you want, in whatever position you want, as much as you want, as-"

"Stop!" Harry interrupted her. "Please, stop. I don't want to do that, I don't want to use you like that. You're too important to me to just make you into my personal toy, okay? _Please_, think of yourself. I know you put me first, you think of what I want and what would keep me safe, but what do _you_ want, what would make _you_ happy?"

"I want to please you." Isis replied immediately. "I want to make _you_ happy."

She took a deep, shuddering breath.

"I remember being a unicorn." She told him. "I remember how one day was much like any other. Unicorns may be magical and intelligent, but they're much like any other animal. They eat, they sleep, and they breed. I remember the fear I felt when I was hurt, I remember being on the edge of death." She hugged him tighter again. "And, most of all, I remember you."

She sniffled slightly. "You were my saviour, my light in the darkness, the one who could have asked any price from me, and you didn't. You were content simply with saving me, and if I had wanted to wander off and do my own thing, you'd have let me, you'd have _helped _me."

"So you decided to give up any semblance of free will and become like this?" Harry had to ask.

Isis chuckled, but she was still crying. "You idiot. 'Giving up any semblance of free will?' Is that really true if I _choose_ to submit myself to you? Is it not _my_ choice to make a decision to obey you? When you give a command, I can decide whether to follow it myself, and I _will!_"

"I see." Harry replied, not sure what to say to that.

Isis moved about on top of him until her face, eyes red from crying, her complexion blotchy, hovered above his own.

It was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen.

"I don't think you do." Isis shook her head, her hair falling around her and over them both. "Your eyes are always on Reinforce- don't try and deny it. I _know_ you look at me as well, but it's different, and I don't want it to be. I _know_ Reinforce will try and avoid such a relationship, she doesn't think she's worth it, she thinks she's caused too much damage, too much death and destruction, for her to have such a thing. I don't want you to be hurt, Harry."

"Isis..." Harry trailed off. "Neither of us are currently at our best. How about... how about you, me, and Rein talk things out later? If we just bottle things up, we'll only end up hurting ourselves, and it hurts me to see you like that, so please, dry those tears. I can't see the future, and I don't know what will happen, but this isn't going to do anything for anyone."

"You'll talk with us?" Isis asked. "You'll listen to us?"

"I will." Harry agreed. "Does this work for you?"

Isis pulled herself up slightly, smiling a bit. "It's a start." She said. "But first, while we're like this..."

She trailed off, a hint of her old mischievousness returning to her, making Harry wonder what she was planning.

He found out a moment later as she came down and pressed her lips against his, and when his jaw went slack in surprise, she forced her tongue into his mouth. She moaned into his mouth, and her leg rubbed against his manhood which was reacting to the situation he found himself in.

Harry wriggled slightly, but she clamped down on him.

It didn't look like she planned to let him go any time soon.

xxxxx

"Happy Birthday!"

Harry jumped in surprise when he walked into his newly constructed house.

After a rather intense 'make out' session with Isis, Harry and her managed to tidy themselves up a bit, though both still looked a little dishevelled. Judging by the faces he could see, though, only Reinforce and Loki seemed to have any idea what had just been going on.

"Oh, yeah, today's my birthday, isn't it?" Harry said.

"Really, you forgot it was your birthday?" One askance voice spoke up from the small crowd. "And here we went to so much effort to be here." It continued melodramatically.

"Beth?" Harry looked surprised to see one of his professors there. "I didn't know you were coming to Japan."

Bathsheba Babbling shrugged, gesturing to Septima Vector next to her. "Me and Sep sent you a letter asking if you wanted to visit again, but it seems Loki got hold of it and asked if we wanted to come and celebrate your birthday. As you can see, we accepted."

"Hey." Septima waved at Harry.

"Hello." Harry responded, though his eyes drifted up and to the right, to Reinforce.

_~ Later... you, me, and Isis really should talk some things out, okay? ~ _He telepathically spoke to her.

_~ Okay, Harry, but for now, just enjoy the day. ~_ She replied in the same manner.

_~ Will do. ~_ He responded.

Harry settled into things with little difficulty. It started with a large, buffet style lunch, with everyone mingling together. Beth seemed a little smug when she found out that Fate, Nanoha, and Hayate were the three transfers that Hogwarts were getting and that Harry knew them.

Septima seemed to enjoy talking with Lindy, though both her and Beth also spent a lot of time around Loki, making Harry wonder if some sort of affection was developing between them. Loki did shoot him a mock glare when he saw Harry's eyes glimmering with amusement when looking his way.

Arf, in human form, did enjoy all of the delicious food that had been laid out, and seemed to have taken Bast under her wing somewhat. The cat familiar, when she wasn't focusing on Harry and any potential threats to him, did seem to have shining eyes when she looked at the canine familiar, and Harry was sure he heard her refer to Arf as 'sempai' at one point.

The Wolkenritter were talking with a few others, and did speak with Harry for a while too. It was easy to see that they were rather uncomfortable with being so far away from Hayate for so much of the year, but the fact Zafira at least was going with her, as her pet, calmed them a bit, as did the fact that Harry, Fate, Arf, and Nanoha would also be there.

They had considered taking Yuuno along, as Nanoha's pet, but as he was now so high up in the Infinite Library, he couldn't really just take months off at a time in order to do so. He would, however, stay in contact and be available if he was ever needed, he just wouldn't be there himself.

After lunch was over, and everyone had spent some time actually digesting what they'd eaten while they chatted for a while, it seemed that someone had the bright idea of bringing out the party games. It felt quite childish to Harry, but nevertheless, it was a rather enjoyable experience, and it also doubled up as something of a house warming party too.

Harry was amused when Hayate, and don't ask him how it happened, somehow ended up in a luminous green tutu, pink fairy wings, a blue wig, and ballet shoes, all while dangling from the ceiling. Of course, she wasn't the only one who ended up in similar situations, it seemed Beth and Septima had brought some magical tricks and pranks from Zonko's before coming to Japan.

Eventually, however, the games and fun petered out. Of course, by this time it was evening and time for supper, which everyone once more shared. Unlike dinner, the atmosphere was more relaxed, sleepy even, and there was a pleasant hum of conversation, nothing particularly loud.

Beth and Septima would be staying with Harry for a while before returning to Britain. Loki, as he had been the one to make arrangements, had gone out and bought basic furniture, crockery, and the like over the previous few days. If Harry spent a few hours etching some basic rune arrays around the house, that would give them lights, water, and waste disposal, which was the necessities.

After that, however, Harry was left with Reinforce and Isis, and he really didn't know how to handle the situation he found himself in. The three of them ended up behind the house, in a grassy field that was part of the parcel of land Harry had bought but didn't know what to do with yet.

While Harry was trying to get his thoughts in order, it was Reinforce who spoke first.

xxxxx

Reinforce was rather confused at present.

Earlier that day, she had joined Lindy and Harry's friends in preparing a birthday party surprise for him. It had been a lot of fun to decorate the house for the day, and with her knowledge of wizarding spells, there was quite a bit she could do that a regular, mundane party wouldn't be able to have.

Then, when Isis was supposed to bring Harry along, she had felt rapid changes in his emotional state, and even afterwards he seemed to be very unsure of himself, though there were trace amounts of nervousness and an undercurrent of guilt as well, which she couldn't make sense of.

Nevertheless, she didn't bring it up, and Harry _had_ said that they would talk later.

The party was rather fun, in her opinion, but she constantly found her eyes seeking out Harry, while also mentally reaching for the bond they shared. It was a disquieting feeling when Harry was not happy, especially when she didn't know what the issue was, and it had almost physically hurt to pretend it wasn't there. She knew Harry was feeling the same way, as she could feel the echo of his side of their bond quite clearly.

Now, here she was. It was just her, her master, and Isis.

She shifted herself until she was next to Harry, leaning against him as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"What's the matter, Harry?" She asked. "I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."

"I don't really know how to explain things, but I can try." Harry replied. "I... I... Well, it's just that I-"

"What he's trying to say is that he loves you." Isis brusquely snapped.

"Wha-" Reinforce was taken aback at the blunt statement.

"Harry is in love with you." Isis reiterated. "It's not some childish crush, but genuine affection. He cares about you, about your well-being, your health, your happiness, and everything that makes you 'you'. Oh, and he finds you physically attractive too."

Reinforce, by this point, had blushed bright red. What made her realise the truth of the words, more than Isis' proclamation, was that as the unicorn spoke, she could feel Harry's emotions, and so _knew _them to be true. Harry, her most recent, and last, master found her both beautiful and desirable.

Her master was in love with her!

"The problem is that I like Harry, quite possibly even more than he likes you." Isis continued. "I _want_ Harry, I want him badly, but he's only really focused on you, and I, obviously, am not you." She sighed. "I don't know what to do, and Harry suggested that us three come out here and talk things out, see what comes of it."

Reinforce found she couldn't speak for a short while, and when she could, she said the first thing that came into her head. "Wait! That can't be everything. I mean, I'm pretty sure Fate, Nanoha, and Hayate like you, and there's some girls at Hogwarts that have been eyeing you up, and-"

"Yes, they like him." Isis interrupted her. "They do not love him. Perhaps in time one or more of them could come to love Harry, but right now that's not the case. Oh, there's some crushes and definitely some fondness there, but... it's just not the same."

Harry slowly nodded his head in agreement.

"I can readily admit that the others are physically attractive, and more than that, they're personalities match their looks." He said. "Kindness, compassion, and everything else people wax poetically about, they have them, and whoever they end up with will be very lucky indeed. Still, while I am fond of them, it's nothing like what I feel for you, Rein, nowhere near as... intense."

"But I _can't_ do this." Reinforce exclaimed. "I can't! After all of the people I've killed, after all the atrocities that I've committed, how can you think of me like that? Would you still do so if you knew that under previous masters I've personally tortured people into insanity, just to find out what they know, or simply to send a message to my master's enemies?"

Isis snorted. "You think that matters to any of us? I didn't know you before Harry saved my life, so I can't exactly comment on it. Harry probably knows what you've done in the past, but hell if he cares. Stop drowning in memories and actually live in the now, Reinforce, or you'll miss every chance that comes your way."

The three fell into silence after that, all three of them thinking similar yet different things. Eventually, however, Reinforce broke the silence.

"Do you really want me like that, Harry?" Her voice was soft and quiet, like the whisper of the wind. "Do you really want me as... as a 'girlfriend'?"

In response, Harry let his emotions flow through their bond and into Rein, who shivered slightly as his answer flooded her.

"I don't know what I want." He said. "I do know, though, that I really like you, Rein, and it just might well be in a way beyond friendship."

Reinforce curled up against Harry's side, despite being taller than him by quite a bit. "Really?"

"Really." He answered.

Isis gave a somewhat bitter smile and went to get to her feet. However, when she went to walk away, she yelped, having found a magical rope wrapped around her ankle. Reinforce, who had cast said spell, cast another, wrapping it around Isis' waist and pulling her on top of the the two of them.

"Wha- what are you doing?" Isis stuttered.

"Harry likes me, and I like Harry." Reinforce replied. "You like Harry, and... I think Harry likes you too." She continued, though her tone indicated she was a bit unsure of things.

"You don't mean to say you're happy with such an arrangement, do you?" Isis asked.

Reinforce frowned. "A part of me, a selfish part, wants Harry all to myself. Another part is jealous that you hold some of his attention. However, we're going to be together for a long time, especially if Harry shares my longevity like that Unspeakable claimed he would. If we didn't get along, me and you, then things would become rather unpleasant."

"So you're willing to share him with others, _knowing_ that if you asked, Harry would choose only you?" Isis had to be sure.

"No, I won't share him with just anyone, it's difficult enough simply acknowledging that you and I both like him." Reinforce shook her head. "However, we can try and make things work. If it does happen, then it happens. If it doesn't, we'll have to work something new out."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Harry grumbled half-heartedly.

Isis looked at Harry with her unicorn version of the 'puppy dog eyes'. "D- do you really m-mean to say that you'll t-turn down two b-beautiful girls like this?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Two beautiful girls? Yes. Two girls that I actually care about?" He sighed. "I think I can agree to try this out with you two."

"Yay!" Isis cried as she snuggled up close to him. "Love you too, Harry."

"It looks like we're sleeping under the stars tonight." Harry sighed. "Goodnight, you two, sleep well."

"Goodnight." Isis said.

"Goodnight." Reinforce echoed.

xxxxx

The next morning, when Harry awoke, he found himself sandwiched between the two females he'd gone to sleep with. It took him a little wriggling, but he managed to get out of there without waking either of them up.

Sighing in relief, as they'd had quite the tight grip on him, Harry looked to the side where there was an open patch of grass. As he looked there, a complex looking magical circle appeared there as he attempted to call his shade to his side. Thankfully, it worked on the first attempt, and his shade appeared inside the circle.

"Master." The shade greeted him.

"Please, report what you've seen." Harry told it.

"As you wish." The shade responded. "The man known as James Potter acts rather erratically, making it difficult to predict what he will do next. A constant since I started observing him, however, is his attempts to gather influence and political support. He spends little time at home, and his relationship with his wife and children is becoming strained."

"How much progress has he made with gathering support from the old families?" Harry asked.

"He has insinuated and suggested to many that not everything about you is as it seems." The shade replied. "The ones he has approached have been treating his words carefully, and with caution, but a spark has been lit in them. If left alone, they will gather together and request an investigation into his claims, and unfortunately I see no way for you to clear away the suspicion without simply having them assassinated."

"I won't do that." Harry frowned. "I'll only kill if I'm being attacked with lethal intent, or if my opponent has committed crimes that deserve a death sentence." He sighed. "Can you give me any names of those who are listening to James Potter's words, and an estimate of when things might come to a head?"

The shade listed what names it had heard, and Harry mentally noted them down so he could research them when he had an opportunity.

"As for a date and time, it's uncertain." The shade continued. "However, they plan to start things off no earlier than September first, a time I understand you will be unavailable due to being at school."

"Ah, bugger!" Harry groaned. "That's really going to make things difficult. I was hoping they'd want to start things off before then, but I suppose at least one of them is intelligent enough to take advantage of my young age. Okay, that aside, is there any news regarding James Potter and his attempt at obliviating Madam Bones?"

"He has received a warning, it has been added to his record, and he has paid his fine." The shade answered. "If it happens again, he will be put under investigation, and if found guilty will spend five years in Azkaban minimum security."

"So he has to tread carefully and not step on any toes." Harry muttered, mulling it over. "Still, him gathering support is worrying. If he can actually get an investigation started, it won't take them very long to find out that I'm not actually human, and I'd probably be classified as some form of undead. I need an escape route if that happens..."

"The Astral Plane should suffice, master." The shade spoke up when Harry trailed off.

"I'm not a spirit, I can't move between the two planes." Harry replied dryly.

The shade gave Harry what could be interpreted as a curious look. "Are you not a necromancer, with your Tiet unlocked?"

"My what?" Harry asked. "All I know about necromancy is what I've read in the few books I've managed to find on the subject, most of which are to do with the different methods of animating corpses and summoning or creating spirits, though a few have referenced the powerful healing abilities necromancy has."

"That is most unexpected." The shade replied. "Necromancy, at it's core, is not magic. Magic is the manipulation of mana, the energy of possibilities. Necromancy is the manipulation of Tiet, the energy of life. To unlock one's Tiet properly, you must die and be brought back, and it is clear to me that yours is unlocked and flowing free."

Harry frowned. "Do you know much else about necromancy? This is the first time I've heard of this 'Tiet' you mentioned."

"It is an Egyptian word." The Shade replied. "However, I know very little about the mortal applications of necromancy. I do know of two invocations, but they are so simple that any necromancer, even one who has not unlocked their Tiet, should know them."

"It seems I am lacking in the basics." Harry sighed. "Could you tell me what those two 'spells' are?"

"Spells are magical, invocations are necromantic." The shade corrected Harry. "As for the invocations themselves, the first is the Wraith-blade, where one projects their Tiet as a weapon. As I understand it, simply forcing your power into your hand whilst picturing a blade should be enough. It requires no focus, as Tiet is the energy of life, and flows in all living things."

Harry, hesitantly, did as the shade said. He felt around inside himself for his 'Tiet', not knowing exactly what it was, but knowing that it wasn't his mana. It took some time, but eventually he managed it, and when he forced it to flow from his mind while thinking 'sword', it manifested.

The sword that appeared was massive, obviously meant to be wielded with two hands. It was a flamberge style sword, with quite a broad blade, as wide as Harry's palm at the hilt. What was more unusual about it was that it appeared to be made out of some sort of cloudy grey glass or crystal, though it wasn't as reflective or 'shiny' as such substances would normally be.

"Is this right?" Harry asked, taking a few swings with the blade.

"It is." The shade replied. "As for the other invocation, it has been referred to as a 'shadow bolt' by necromancers of the past. Simply gather together Tiet into your hand, and then release it in the direction of you're target. It's not a particularly strong invocation, but it's usable."

Keeping his Wraith-blade manifested in his right hand, Harry began attempting to cast a shadow bolt with the other. Misty grey energy gathered there after a few moments of focus, easier now that he knew how to draw on his Tiet consciously, before his arm snapped straight and the ball of necromantic energy was fired at a tree.

The shadow bolt impacted the tree with a crack, a fairly substantial hole being blasted into it, but it was the other effect that Harry took note of. It seemed the tree was undergoing necrosis, which was only confirmed when he hit it with a few diagnostic spells.

"Beware of using more of your Tiet than you can safely generate, master." The shade warned. "It would not do for you to kill yourself through over-exertion."

"I'll do that." Harry replied, feeling a little tired. "You mentioned that I should be able to traverse the Astral Plane earlier, could you teach me that too?"

"I can." The shade replied. "Now, however, you should rest. While your Tiet is unlocked, it appears that you are unused to using it in any significant amounts."

"Thank you, you are dismissed." Harry said, waving a goodbye to his shade, which faded away to once again stalk James Potter's every footstep.

His eyes fell on the still sleeping forms of Reinforce and Isis as he let his Wraith-blade fade away.

"I need to get stronger, I won't let anyone hurt you." He muttered to himself.


	9. On the Train

AN: Okay, first off, someone in a review asked how Necromancy caused necrosis in the last chapter. Remember that Necromancy is the giving and taking of life, and that includes things on the cellular level. The shadow bolt, when it hit the tree, simultaneously ripped the life out of it and forced it in, resulting in a bit of it 'dying', hence necrosis. The unstable remaining energy caused a small, concussive explosion, which is responsible for the dent, the physical damage. Now, moving on, things are heating up now that they're heading back to Hogwarts. The first part of this 'year' will be rather political, and I hope I can pull it off, but any advice is very welcome. The second half of this 'year', should be, if my plans don't change, something rather different to normal, which means a lot of work. I hope I can do a good job of it, but this is new water for me, and there's not many fics with similar happenings in them for me to be inspired by. With that said, please enjoy the chapter.

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 9 – On the Train

When Bathsheda Babbling awoke, she found herself tangled up with her best friend in one of the guest rooms in Harry's home. Naturally, she shrugged this off, not much caring about the position she was in. It wasn't the first time her and Septima had shared a bed, and it was unlikely to be the last.

Septima came to shortly afterwards, her rest being disturbed by Beth getting up herself. After giving said woman a half-hearted glare for knocking her out of her slumber, she also got up and began to get dressed.

Once both of them were ready for the day, even if Septima did look a little sleepy still, they set off to see about breakfast. Also, they would see if Harry and company were up, and if so, what their plans were for today.

They found both at once when they entered the kitchen. Harry himself was sat at the table with a stack of toast in front of him. Off to the side, several more stacks of toast and various jams stood, all under heating and preservation charms to keep it fresh.

Beth swiped two stacks of toast, as well as the raspberry jam for herself and the marmalade for Septima. Her friend, however, was rather curious about what Harry was doing, as he sat there with his Tome of Shadows open, searching through it for something.

Beth, seeing her friends curiosity, decided to ask what was going on in her own blunt way.

"What's up, Harry? You look rather focused there." She said, earning a mild, admonishing look from Septima.

Harry briefly considered telling them the situation, before deciding that if he was going to trust any adult witches and wizards, it'd be these two. He summarised the events he was aware of, in addition to his own speculation, though he _did_ leave out a few things, his exploration of necromancy being one.

"So, you see, I'm trying to be as prepared as I can be." Harry finished with a sigh. "One of the main things James has over me is that he _knows_ that I can't be human, because he and Lily were the ones to turn my dead body into a magical bomb. Hogwarts only accepts human students, so if – or more likely _when_ – that comes out, I need a back-up plan."

"I know Beauxbatons in France accepts near and part humans." Septima commented. "Durmstrang only accepts humans, and I think Salem does too. Where were you planning on going if it did happen like that?"

"Either Germany or Japan, mainly because I know those two languages." Harry replied.

Septima winced. "You don't want to go to Germany, believe me, that can be quite the nasty place, and it is still full of prejudice too."

Harry nodded. "I know, but that leaves Mahoutokoro in Japan, and that is a very different place to Hogwarts. For one, Hogwarts barely has three hundred students, and while in its heyday, it had roughly a thousand, Mahoutokoro has over three and a half _thousand_ students, primarily because they accept all sapient magical races."

"And I can imagine the curriculum is quite different to what you know, right?" Beth asked, slightly muffled as she was munching on some toast.

"Exactly." Harry dryly agreed. "It's one of the reasons I'm looking through mind magic right now. I was thinking that if I plant some sort of recording spells on a golem, and then have it transfer the memories to me, I'd be able to learn things a lot faster, but..."

"Yeah, most mind magic can't help you there." Beth said, before tapping her chin in thought. "Actually, there _might_ be a spell you could use, though it's classed as minor dark magic. It's not illegal, but it is immoral if performed on an unwilling person."

"What spell?" Harry asked.

"It's used to put false memories into someone else's mind, usually after erasing what was already there. If you use it without first getting rid of memories though, it'd do what you want it to." Beth told him. "You'd have to rework your Occlumency though, so it doesn't wreck your mind."

"Okay, I can use that. Now, how to install recording spells into a golem. I suppose a rune array could act as an anchor, but I'd have to make each one by hand then, and that'd take so much time." Harry mused aloud.

"What about anchoring the spells to a tangible illusion?" Septima asked. "They're not too difficult to do, if you already know the basics of illusions that is, which, if I remember right, you do."

"Tangible illusions? You can make them solid?" Harry responded.

Septima laughed. "Yes. There's a magical circus on every year during the summer, just outside London, though I haven't been to it in a few years. There's these mimes that use magic in their performances, so when they're pretending to lasso someone or build a wall, it actually happens."

Harry searched his book for magical mimes, and came across four entries. He wondered who had added them to the tome, as he didn't recall doing so himself. It was probably Reinforce, she'd added a lot to this book herself, most of it in fact.

"Huh, I see." Harry said, as he looked over the Arithmancy formula for the spells.

Septima, seeing what he was doing, pulled a pencil and some paper out of her pockets, of which she had many, and quickly scribbled out the formula, circling several bits of it.

"This bit of the spell is what keeps everything invisible." She indicated one part of the formula. "This part here is the important bit, it's what makes it solid. Now, do you have the formula for the Reflection Illusion in there?" Harry flipped to the appropriate page. "Right, you want all of this, as it'll make your 'clone' look like you, and it's a good, stable base for the spell."

Septima then scribbled the fragment of the old formula onto the illusion, but pointed her pencil at it in an insistent manner.

"It's unbalanced." Harry realised what she was getting at. "If I left the spell like that, it would fail."

"Well done." Septima, ever the teacher, said to him. "Anyway, the recording spells being added here would balance the formula out. If you add the memory bit to this section here, it would mean they'd be sent back to you when the 'clone' fails and dispels."

"Don't forget to add loyalty and obedience bits in there." Beth chimed in. "You don't want the 'clone' doing whatever _it_ wants after all."

"I was getting to that." Septima grumbled. "Anyway, luckily for us, those parts will balance out the equation after the memory section unbalanced it again."

Harry looked at the scribble Septima had drawn out, and he had to wonder if spell-crafting was as easy as that, which he proceeded to ask about. He didn't expect Septima to laugh at him for an answer though.

"Creating a spell from nothing _is_ difficult, just as making anything new is. We didn't do that though, we just stole bits and pieces from already existing spells, which is far easier to do, with far more predictable results." She told him. "Now comes the hard bit for us though, the incantation and wand movements for the spell. In truth, both are no more than ways of focusing yourself, but casting spells is always easier with them."

"Before that, we should at least _test_ the spell, no?" Beth asked, scribbling something out on a scrap of paper, before handing it to Harry. "Here, try using this to cast it. Let go of it straight away though, ordinary paper's not really the best material to use for magic."

Looking at it, Harry saw that the piece of paper Beth had given him had a rather complicated array drawn on it. He took a moment to appreciate just how good his Runes professor must be to be able to convert an Arithmancy formula into a runic equation and draw it out as quickly as she did.

"Here goes." Harry said, before channelling his mana into the piece of paper.

A small flash of light later, from the excess mana that the paper couldn't handle, a duplicate of Harry appeared in front of him, before collapsing to the floor.

Harry nudged his copy with a foot, but it was completely unresponsive. Rolling it over, he saw that it looked right from the front as well, but its eyes looked... dead, or at least empty.

"It's not doing anything." Harry observed.

Beth muffled a snicker, as she explained the problem. "It doesn't have any intelligence. Your golems all share the AI in your bracers, but that 'clone' isn't connected to that, you'll have to control it yourself."

Harry closed his eyes for a moment and focused on his double. When he opened his eyes, he saw that his clone had gotten to its feet, like he'd meant it to. He looked at Beth and Septima.

"Could you make a design that links into my AI like the golems do, so they can act by themselves?" He asked.

"Easily." Septima replied.

Beth nodded as well. "I can have the design done in minutes."

"It'll be a nice addition to our repertoire." Loki's voice made them jump, before turning around to see him leaning against the doorway. "Now, shall we finish this test?"

Loki walked up to the clone, before whispering something in its ear, too quiet for the others to hear. He then stabbed the clone with his device.

"AAARGH!" Harry cried out, clutching at his side, once again making the others jump, especially when his knees gave way from under him.

"Harry. Harry, are you okay? Harry, what's the matter?" Septima asked with worry.

"I'm... okay." Harry breathed heavily. "It seems the spell worked, better than expected as well. I just felt what it was like to be stabbed through the chest, and I've gotta say, it hurts. As for your question, Loki, I am _so_ not answering that."

Loki stepped forward, his expression worried. Pulling Harry's arms away from his side, he lifted up his shirt to see where on Harry that Loki had stabbed his clone. Very faintly, as in almost impossible to see, there was a slight red line corresponding to where Loki had stabbed Fenrir into the clone.

"Okay, so that's not going to be a combat technique." Loki commented dryly, before suddenly asking a question. "Can your duplicates use magic themselves?"

Septima, once she was sure that Harry was okay, answered the raven familiar. "They should be able to. Their reserves won't recharge like a living person, but they can make use of whatever excess mana was used when making them."

"Useful, _very _useful." Loki remarked. "For now though, I think that's enough experimentation."

Harry, it seemed, agreed, as he collected together the now empty plates to wash them. Loki grabbed his own stack of toast before leaving, claiming that he had something to check up on.

"Harry!" Beth called out as said boy stood in front of the sink. "About the Potter thing, know that we're behind you, okay? In fact, I'm pretty sure Jacob Aylett's wife owes Septima a favour."

Septima blinked in surprise, before her eyes widened in realisation. "She did say she owed me one because of, well... something, but that was almost fifteen years ago, do you really think she'll remember that?"

"She should." Beth said.

Septima looked to Harry, and her eyes hardened as she gave a firm nod. "I'll ask her if she's willing to talk with her husband about your issue. If I remember right, Jacob is one of the moderates, so his support could help a lot if others follow his lead."

Harry gave the two of them a smile.

"Thank you." He said.

xxxxx

Sirius Black looked up as he heard footsteps heading his way.

Getting out of Azkaban had done him a world of good, and actually being clean was a wonderful feeling for him. However, not everything was sunshine and rainbows for him, as he'd been made aware of the fact that James and Lily were still alive, and that they actually had two children he wasn't even aware of.

He remembered when James had asked him to be a godfather for his son, and he'd been ecstatic. The problem was his memory wasn't as clear as it used to be, and when he searched around in his own head, he couldn't even remember the child's name. Had it been Brian, or had it been Harry?

He'd ask the man himself soon enough, along with what the heck he'd been thinking doing what he had. The Wizengamot met the first Sunday of every month, with the next one being the fifth of September. It was there that Sirius' own incarceration, without trial at that, would be brought up.

With the right spin to it, Amelia would be able to gain immense political power, especially as Sirius stood to inherit the entire Black estate, or at least what was left of it. People would be scrambling all over themselves to forge connections, and to see which way he would vote, and the public support he could get having managed to last through Azkaban with his sanity intact, even if his memories had taken a hit, was also something to consider.

The whole 'Harry is some sort of living Voldemort zombie' thing, _that_ had been a bit harder to work out, and he still wasn't really sure what he thought of it all. On one hand, if Harry _really_ was Voldemort, then things were bad. On the other, well, if Harry _wasn't _Voldemort, things were just weird.

Being told that the Unspeakables had confirmed Harry was _not_ Voldemort had eased his mind, but the fact was that Harry was... well, from what he could work out, Harry seemed to be some form of Lich, with this 'Reinforce' girl as his phylactery, which was weird in its own way.

Sirius would at least like to meet Harry himself before he made a decision one way or the other though.

"Good morning, Lord Black." The person who came through the door said.

Sirius squinted at him for a moment. "Harry?" He asked, hesitantly. "Is that... is that you?"

"Harry Ritter, at your service." Harry bowed his head. "Oh, and I have a little gift for you as well."

Out of Harry's sleeve crawled a rather large spider, about the size of his clenched fist, dragging a rat bound in webbing.

Sirius ignored the arachnid for a moment, his eyes glued to the unconscious rat the spider gave to him. He recognised it, he would recognise that rat anywhere! By Merlin, he could even see the missing toe clearly, where the traitorous bastard had cut it off.

"This is Peter, isn't it?" Sirius asked in a quiet voice.

"It is, and it wasn't easy to get hold of him either. I had to track down the Weasley family in Egypt, have my insects infiltrate the place they were staying, and avoid the pest wards as much as they could. He's currently out of it due to the poison a few of my insects possess, but he's alive, I've made sure of that." Harry explained.

The reason Harry had done this, aside from it being a peace offering to someone who may or may not side with James Potter and his side, was because Madam Bones couldn't legally get to Pettigrew without the proper warrant, which would likely give the rat enough time to flee. However, if Harry just so 'happened' to come across him after he'd heard her 'ranting' about it, that was a different matter.

Harry's spider, one of his newest zombie creations, crawled back into his sleeve and into a pocket he'd sewn in there. The pocket had an undetectable expansion charm cast on it, and half of his zombified creepy crawlies 'lived' in there, while the other half lived in the pocket on his other sleeve.

"I'm... holding the proof of my innocence in my hand." Sirius spoke, though Harry was unsure if he was meant to be hearing it or not. "The DMLE could get a confession out of him, so why... why do I want nothing more than to wring the bastard's neck?!"

"He's the reason you spent twelve years in Azkaban, it's only natural that you'd want revenge for that." Harry replied softly.

"What would you do in my place?" Sirius asked, looking at Harry with red eyes, on the verge of crying. "Would you give him up, or would you finish it yourself?"

Harry shuffled awkwardly in place for a moment. "Do you want the appropriate answer, or an honest one?"

"Honest." Sirius immediately responded. "Just... tell me what you would do."

"I would hand him over to the DMLE." Harry replied. "However... I'd also leave behind a little something extra, a delayed trap that would activate a few months down the line. What that trap would do, I don't really know, but I wouldn't settle for anything less than what he deserved."

"So you'd prove your innocence _and_ have your revenge, huh?" Sirius breathed heavily. "You know, I think I could get behind such a plan, but I don't know how I'd pull it off."

His eyes sharpened as he refocused on Harry. "Before that though, I want to know something. I want to know who you are... and I want to know _what_ you are." He stood up, Pettigrew clenched firmly in one hand. Sirius looked at Harry with such intensity that he felt like the older man could almost see through him, like an x-ray or something.

"My name is Harry Ritter, formerly Potter." Harry replied. "I am a child of about thirteen years, and I am a wizard. I lived with Petunia and Vernon Dursley for ten years, believing my parents dead in a drunken car accident, and then an entire world of magic opened itself up to me. What am I? I don't know what answer you expect, and all I can say is that I'm what you see before you."

Sirius fell back into his chair with a sigh. "You lived with Petunia and her husband? I remember them, at least a little, from Lily and James' wedding day. I remember an argument, but I can't remember what it was about, but I think Petunia ended up slapping Lily, and I'm pretty sure she said something about 'freaks' too."

"Really, on their wedding day?" Harry asked.

Sirius frowned as he tried to remember that day, though it was still blurry.

"Yeah, I _think_ Lily had promised her parents that she'd try and get along with her sister or something, and that's why she invited them. I think James went along with it because it was Lily asking... or did he argue against it? I can't actually remember." Sirius started getting a little distressed as he tried as hard as he could to remember the details, but they kept slipping away from him.

Harry sighed. "It doesn't matter anyway. They're not my parents, not now I've officially been kicked out of the family anyway, and it wasn't like we were family before that." Not that it didn't hurt Harry regardless, being rejected like that wasn't easy, and as much as his friends and familiars comforted him, that didn't stop the sadness.

"Amelia told me about that." Sirius acknowledged him. "So, you're not a Potter, and it turns out that I'm not your godfather either, but Brian's."

"Don't sound so down." Harry tried to comfort Sirius in his own way. "When I found out about all of this, I checked up on them, and the kids don't seem too bad. Sure, Rose seems a bit of an oddball, but she's cheerful and friendly. Brian seems to have gotten all of his parents' positive traits too, and I'm sure you can get along with him."

"What can you tell me about them?" Sirius asked. He was rather nervous as these were kids he hadn't seen at all, or if he had, his memories were so messed up he might as well not have anyway.

So, for the next two hours, Harry talked with Sirius, discussing what little he knew about Brian and Rose Potter. Eventually, they ended up talking about themselves and each other as well, and little by little Sirius calmed down, and became far more at ease than he had since before he had gone _into _Azkaban.

All in all, it wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon.

xxxxx

The sun shone brightly on the first of September in Japan. Harry was awake early, as he usually was, and began the day like normally did, with a 'spar' against Loki. Every time they did this, the matches became more and more exciting, as neither of them were content to simple remain as they were, and were in a constant race to improve and expand their skills.

Loki's speed, while not equal to that of Fate when she went as fast as she could, was certainly creeping up there. Add in his teleporting trick, and he turned into a very mobile opponent, his hit and run tactics only serving to make him that bit more frustrating.

Harry, on the other hand, had focused more on his illusion skills recently. That meant it was almost impossible to tell if you were really fighting Harry, or merely thought you were. The fact he was using more and more tangible illusions just made it that bit more difficult to make the distinction, and his hordes of summoned and transfigured creatures were very difficult to counter, if only due to the wide variety of things he could make.

The slight bits of necromancy he slipped in there added an interesting new dynamic to the fights too. It was really quite something to see swarms of flying insects, and even small birds, erupt from his sleeves and follow his will. With them, you could never be sure whether you had truly put them down or not, as their zombie regeneration ability did trip Loki up more than once, making him curse them out.

Occasionally, one or more of the others would join in the spars, and their own skills were coming along nicely. Isis' ability to create barriers was getting better, both in how fast she could put them up, and how strong she could make them. Reinforce was the most unchanged, tending towards the role of magical artillery, like a 'standard' Mid-Childan mage. Bast's own abilities were growing too, as she learned how to predict an opponent's attack and read their body language. She also began incorporating locks and throws from various martial arts into her fighting style, making use of her body's flexibility.

Teamwork exercises were less common, but they still showed progress there. The handful of times that the five of them had gone up against the Wolkenritter and Hayate, they'd almost always lost, and it gave all of them a healthy respect for the sheer amount of experience that the knights possessed, as well as the skills they had.

That respect didn't stop Harry from pranking Zafira into a playboy bunny outfit though, and he had the pictures to prove it.

Anyway, once Harry and Loki had finished their morning spar, they returned indoors. Harry began cooking breakfast for everybody, while Loki made sure that everything they needed was packed away. He also double-checked the golem they'd put together to look after the house while they were gone was in working order.

Harry idly wondered if he should make some sort of guards for his home, though zombie acromantula were probably too far across the line, especially if anyone with arachnophobia ever decided to visit him. Suddenly, he had the image of Ron Weasley running away from an acromantula in a pink apron holding a dress flash through his mind, and he had absolutely no idea why, though it did make him laugh a little.

Several hours later, the Uminari group turned up at Harry's place with all of their luggage. Zafira was going with Hayate as her pet, in puppy mode at least, but the other Wolkenritter looked rather uncomfortable being separated from Hayate for long periods of time.

Harry pulled out a pair of mirrors. Sirius had talked about them, and it wasn't that hard to figure out how to make them, especially with Beth and Septima's help. He handed one to Signum, one to Lindy, and one to Nanoha's parents who were there to see her off.

Seeing their confused looks, he explained. "Speak the name of the person who has the other one, and you can see and talk with each other. There's also, interestingly enough, no limit on distance, so you could even use one from Mid-Childa to here. The small jewel in the Takamachis' mirror gathers ambient mana, and so can be used by someone without magic. I have the others in my luggage, and I'll hand them out when we get to Hogwarts."

Signum gave Harry a smile "Thank you, this alleviates some of my worry. Please, keep each other safe while you are away, and we will see you again at Christmas."

The others chimed in with their farewells too, and Harry was about to say something when he realised what time it was.

"Bugger, I forgot about the time difference." He mumbled. "We don't actually have to be on the train until seven this evening, Japan time."

Lindy palmed her face. "I really should have remembered that myself." Her voice was muffled by her hand.

"Well, in that case, I think I'll go brew a potion to help us adjust to the time difference, seeing as I have the time." Harry said, before disappearing to do just that.

"Well now, we pretty much have a free day, anyone up for a spar?" Loki asked, getting several agreements from the others.

xxxxx

Eight hours later, Harry and the rest of them teleported to an empty alley a few minutes away from King's Cross station. It didn't take long to get them all sorted, and as Harry had used a feather-light charm on all of the trunks, it didn't take too much effort to carry them to the station, though the group must have looked more than a little unusual.

Harry's sharp eyes and ears caught the whispers and looks from those that read the Daily Prophet, or one of the few other magical newspapers, and tried to get a feel for how people felt about him. He couldn't get much, but what little he did manage to hear painted a picture of confusion more than anything, so that wasn't too bad.

They managed to get onto platform Nine and Three-quarters without much hassle, though once there, it was a lot more difficult to remain unnoticed. He did catch sight of the Potters, and rather than confront them, kept out of the way for now, and got on the train straight away.

He did manage to get a compartment with a window that looked towards the Potters, and with it open, he heard a few things, though nothing of substance. Brian and Rose were both looking rather uncomfortable with all of the attention they were getting, and appeared to be dreading the coming year quite a bit.

Lily was fussing over her kids, making sure they had everything they needed, and that they knew she loved them, and all of the other little things mothers did when sending their children off to boarding school for three and a bit months, if not the entire year round.

James was stood tall, possibly trying to look unconcerned by everything, but the way he was constantly looking around was telling. Perhaps he was looking for those who he thought might support him in the upcoming Wizengamot meeting that Sunday, or perhaps he was trying to catch sight of Harry himself, who could say?

Harry's wand fell into his hand, and he quietly cast a space expansion charm on the compartment, making it bigger. If someone wanted to come and see him, well, it was best to listen to them and then cut down any negative opinions of himself as soon as possible.

Two small insects also fell out of Harry's sleeve, before they flew out of the window, and over to the Potter children. It might be considered a breach of privacy, but Harry would feel a lot better if he knew what was going on, and those two were part of what was happening. He'd call his shade and ask for a report later that night too, to see if anything new had come up.

Harry pulled out his Tome of Shadows, and began to breathe slowly. He focused, calming his nerves, and re-worked some of his Occlumency to deal with the 'magic clones' he was now making to read up and practise magic if, or more likely when, it proved necessary to change schools.

Currently, he could only handle two sets of new memories at a time, but he hoped to improve that to at least five, if not ten, by Christmas. As the Japanese school year began in April, that gave him enough time to sort himself out if that was when things came to a head.

It looked like this was going to be one stressful school year.


	10. Returned

AN: Another chapter for RR is here! Now, for those of you who think I've been sticking too close to canon so far, don't worry, things are going to change drastically. The chapters from now on aren't going to focus on classes very much. There'll be bits here and there, but the interactions with others will be the biggest bit of that, all of it coloured by the Potters actions, as well as others that get involved. The other major bit will be Harry exploring the Astral plane, as I have planned him to do for a while now. I am drawing influence from several sources for this, primarily Soul Reaver and Black Rock Shooter, so don't be surprised if you see something that looks familiar, okay? If you want to give me ideas, please do so, whether that be in PMs or reviews, all are welcome. I hope you enjoy the story!

Beta'd by: Paxloria

Chapter 10 - Returned

Harry settled into the compartment as best as he could. He pulled out his Tome of Shadows and went over Sirius' additions to it. Harry had been surprised by the quantity of dark magic that Sirius had known, and even more, been willing to share with him.

He'd said it was better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. He'd also explained that all Black children were instructed in magic – light, neutral, and dark – from an early age, because as they were Blacks, they couldn't be anything but the best.

Regardless of the reasons for it, Harry was happy to add it to his Tome, even if it was some rather unpleasant magic.

As he was reading through it, Harry stroked Bast, who was lying in his lap in cat form.

Sitting directly next to Harry, on his left, was Isis. She was leaning quite heavily against Harry's side, and her bare leg was touching Harry's trouser-covered one. She wasn't doing anything herself, seemingly quite content to doze lightly while being in as much physical contact with him as possible.

On _her_ left sat Loki, who, as usual, seemed to be scribbling something in a notepad. When he felt Harry's eyes on him, he glanced up. His brow creased into a frown, before he spoke up, suggesting that Harry spread his zombie insects throughout the train and get a better idea of what his schoolmates thought about things.

Deciding that there was merit to Loki's suggestion, Harry agreed, and creepy crawlies began to emerge from his sleeves. Small winged insects made up the bulk of Harry's 'spies' this time, and a few small spiders, as the birds would stand out too much on the train, and he hadn't made any cat zombies yet.

"Isn't that a bit... rude?" Nanoha, sat across from Harry, asked, looking at his zombies as they flew or crawled out of the compartment. "I mean, don't you feel a bit guilty? People deserve their privacy after all."

Harry contemplated Nanoha's words for a few moments, turning them over in his head.

"It's not like that." He eventually said. "I'm not interested in personal secrets, and I'll discard them if I do hear them, but I really don't want to be caught unprepared for something that does involve me. I mean, with the Potters back in Britain, and we _know_ James is planning something, I need to be as prepared as I can be. My solution isn't ideal, and you're right, it is an invasion of privacy, but it's not like I know of any better option either."

"I suppose..." Nanoha acknowledged. "So it's better safe than sorry, is that it?"

"Yes, pretty much that." Harry agreed. "Besides, it's not like anyone gets any more privacy at Hogwarts. All of the paintings are self-aware and report to the Headmaster, as do all of the enchanted mirrors as well, so not even the bathrooms or showers are private."

"What?!" Fate, who was sat between Nanoha and Hayate with Arf on her lap in puppy form, squeaked, her face turning red at that. "Are you saying that the Headmaster can watch us when we're... getting clean?"

"The mirrors do record what they see, and there is a mirror in the Headmaster's office that he can watch said recordings on. You don't have to worry about him doing that though, the Headmaster is actually gay, and has absolutely no interest in girls." Harry comforted her as best he could, patting her knee with one hand.

"Noooo!" Isis suddenly cried out, latching onto Harry. "I'm not having some old man perv on _my_ Harry, no way!"

"Calm down, Isis." Harry rolled his eyes. "I really doubt that the Headmaster is watching young boys shower, and even if he was, me and Loki put up obscuring charms on the mirrors in the Ravenclaw Head Boy suite that we're using."

"Why is the Headmaster allowed to do those things?" Fate asked Harry, already feeling unclean simply knowing about it.

"Well, for starters, students aren't supposed to know about it, but I kind of found out by accident. Secondly, there's simply no laws against it, which means it's not illegal. Thirdly, it's supposed to make the school 'safer', and was put in at a time when it wasn't uncommon for students to have bodyguards following them. Make of that what you will." Harry replied.

"Okay, that's one thing going in my first report." Fate grumbled. All of them, Harry included, had been asked to make regular reports about the Wizarding World for the TSAB to look over. For the Japanese group, those reports would primarily be about the subjects, social structure, and first impressions of everything.

Harry's reports, on the other hand, were a little more varied. For example, he'd already submitted a report on the cost of living in Wizarding Britain. Honestly, it was quite low, as magic made things very easy. Magic couldn't be used to _create_ food, but it could be used to increase the quantity of food if it already existed for example. Add in the fact that magic could be used to accelerate the growth of crops, getting three times as many harvests a year as muggle methods easily, as well as the size of the produce, and the price of food was really low.

"Anything else you want to ask about?" Harry asked the blonde girl. "I might have forgotten something that might be relevant."

Fate, deciding it was a good way to use their time until they got to Hogwarts, agreed, and began to ask Harry pretty much anything she could think of. Before long, everyone in the compartment was asking and answering questions, allowing some of the tension and nervousness to bleed out a bit.

xxxxx

Brian gave his sister a comforting grin, no matter how uncomfortable he himself felt. She was his little sister, and he was supposed to look after her. He just wished that his world hadn't been turned on its head like it had been. He'd been fine being Brian Evans, but Brian _Potter_... he didn't know how well he'd do there, even the name felt wrong.

Rose gave her brother a shaky smile. She was also feeling really uncomfortable. This train platform had three hundred students and their parents on it, and she was feeling rather intimidated by the crush of people getting onto the train and exchanging farewells.

"What should we do, big bro?" She asked him, looking around.

Brian also noticed the many looks the two of them were getting, it was difficult not to really. He _really_ didn't want to sit in a compartment with people who were going to badger him constantly, and it would be even worse if they did nothing but sit and stare at him.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Hey, little sis, do you think we should go and find... Harry?" He asked hesitantly. "It might be better sitting with someone we at least know, if it really was him you met back home."

"Yeah, sounds good to me." Rose agreed, happy to get past this awkwardness that had sprung up.

With their magically lightened trunks in hand, they set off down the train to look for someone that might or might not be their brother. They glanced in the open doorways, and when they came across closed ones, Brian slid them open barely an inch – just enough to see who was in there – before moving along.

In the second from last carriage, when Brian caught a glimpse of something silver, he knocked on the door. The conversation going on inside the compartment, in some foreign language or other, stopped. A moment later, a brunette Asian girl opened the door to see who it was.

Looking past her, Brian saw what was almost _definitely _the Harry Ritter that Rose had met. After all, how many other people were there in the world that had red and green eyes _and_ a broad silver streak in their hair, there was even a cat laid on his lap as well.

"Hey, do you mind if me and my sister share a compartment with you guys?" He nervously rubbed at the back of his head.

The brunette raised an eyebrow, before calling over her shoulder to the others in there. He had no idea what she said, she was once again speaking in a language he didn't know, and the replies were also in that language. However, the general idea of things was clear when she shrugged at him and said the two were welcome in the compartment, this time speaking English.

Brian was more than a little apprehensive, wondering if everyone in the compartment was going to focus on the two of them, welcome them into their conversation, ignore them, or... he really didn't know what. The two of them _did_ get some curious looks, and even a furrowed brow or two, but it wasn't as bad as he was expecting it to be.

"Yo, I'm Hayate Yagami, who're you?" The brunette who'd opened the compartment door greeted them.

"Ah, I'm Brian Ev... Potter, and this is my sister, Rose." Brian responded.

"Nice to meet you." Hayate grinned, picking up a small, and strangely blue, wolf puppy. "This guy here is Zafira, my pet."

"I'm Fate Harlaown." A blonde girl with red eyes greeted them next. "This is Arf." She stroked a fox in her lap.

"I'm Nanoha Takamachi." Another brunette Asian girl greeted them. For some reason, the smile the girl sent his way made Brian flush red. Unseen by him, but seen by others in the compartment, Fate narrowed her eyes at that reaction and bristled at his expression.

"I'm Isis." The unicorn familiar added her name to the list, but she was a lot more reserved than she usually was, her demeanour lacking its usually energy, and her eyes were watching the two Potters warily.

"My name is Loki." The raven familiar added languidly, though his eyes were sharp and calculating. There was a somewhat harsh and unpleasant, though pragmatic, part of Loki's mind that swiftly determined their worth as hostages in unfavourable circumstances; even if he knew Harry wasn't likely to go for it.

"Harry Ritter." Harry added softly, not elaborating.

Bast shifted into her more human form and gave the two a level look.

"Bast." Was all she said, before returning to cat form and all of the comfort Harry's hands could give her in that shape.

Brian had jumped a mile when the cat had turned into a cat_girl_ – complete with ears and tail – and back again. Still, he decided to take a seat, and the only available ones were next to either Hayate or Loki. As there was something about the man that Brian found intimidating, not to mention he seemed familiar for some reason, he chose to sit next to Hayate.

What? He's a boy, of course he'd choose a cute girl over an older man.

Rose had no problem sitting next to Loki herself, which put her opposite Brian. However, she kept looking around for something, or more accurately some_one_. Seeing as Harry and Isis were here, and so was Bast, she thought that the 'Rein' woman she'd also met should be around somewhere, but where was she? True, she looked to be too old for Hogwarts, but then so did Loki and Isis, but both of them were there, so was it not likely she would be too?

"So, are all of you third years?" Brian asked, trying to start a conversation.

Nanoha was the one to answer him. "We will be." She told him. "We're transfers, just joining Hogwarts now, so we don't really know anyone yet."

"I'm a third year." Harry spoke up. "However, I'm actually in fourth year classes for Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, and I do some other things as well."

"Oh, like what?" Rose decided to finally add herself into this conversation.

"I sat Imbuing and Enchanting exams at the end of last year, and I have Healer qualifications too, though I haven't taken the oath. I act as Madam Pomfrey's assistant in the Hospital Wing during my free time." Harry replied.

"Are you really allowed to do that without taking a Healer's Oath?" Brian asked in confusion.

"I'm not allowed to apply to be a full Healer without taking the oath, but an assistant is fine, even if I do have full healer qualifications." Harry shrugged. "I'm a general healer mostly, though I've taken the first few exams to qualify as a curse specialist."

"That seems really impressive." Brian said, and it truly was, but that wasn't what he was focused on right then. "How does a third year get that good though?"

Loki looked up from what he was doing and locked eyes with Harry. Both of them were aware that Brian was digging for information, possibly to either refute or support his parents' belief that Harry was Voldemort, but how should they respond to this probing?

"I don't really have much of a social life." Harry decided to answer. "I always have my nose buried in a book, and I'm always looking for something else to learn. I'm... friendly enough with pretty much everyone, but I can't really think of anyone at Hogwarts that's really a _friend_. I guess that I'm just too caught up in learning and research to really reach out to people."

_That_ was true. Goodness knows that Harry was socially awkward. Heck, he wouldn't be as friendly with the Uminari group if it wasn't for Reinforce's connection to them, Hayate specifically. Without Reinforce in his life, who knew just how many (or how few) friends he would have, and what sort of people they'd be, he'd likely latch onto the first person to _smile_ at him or something equally inane.

Brian decided not to continue down that route, he did have _some_ tact after all, and tried to think of something else they could all talk about, but what subject they should discuss eluded him. What did they all have in common?

"Are you looking forward to going to Hogwarts?" He tried.

The three Japanese girls exchanged glances.

"I... don't know." It was Nanoha who responded first. "It's going to be weird going to a school where English is the spoken language, and it'll be fun to learn magic too, but I don't really know anyone there, and I'm a bit nervous too."

Fate gave Nanoha warm smile. "Don't worry, Nanoha, I'm sure you'll make lots of friends."

Hayate sniggered at something, earning a pout from Nanoha and a knowing look from Fate. When she matched eyes with Harry, she saw them glittering with hidden amusement, and she had to keep herself from bursting out into laughter. Brian and Rose thought they'd missed some kind of inside joke that they simply didn't get.

They were right.

"I'm nervous as well." Harry decided to give his thoughts on the matter. "Not about the school, per se, but more... other things." His eyes landed on Brian and Rose, and the two shifted in place, knowing just _why_ Harry might be wary.

"Mum and Dad said they had a surprise waiting for us at the castle." Rose said. "I don't know what it is though."

"Maybe Dad landed the Defence job or something." Brian offered. "Headmaster Dumbledore visited last night, and I've heard that no one really wants the job for some reason."

"That's because no one has managed to last more than a year, and rarely a full year at that." Loki told them. "Not since Dumbledore turned down Tom Riddle's application at least." Seeing the confused looks, he elaborated. "That's Voldemort's real name, and it is believed that he cursed the position when it was denied him."

"You mean Dad might have taken a cursed job?!" Rose asked in alarm.

Loki shook his head. "No, I know for a fact that this year's Defence Against the Dark Arts professor is one Remus Lupin. Coincidentally, he is an old friend of your father, as well as a werewolf. His father stood against Fenrir Greyback when Remus was a little child, and in revenge Greyback bit his child."

Harry shook his head. "I will never cease to be surprised by how much information you can gather, or how quickly you can get your hands on it."

Loki smiled, his eyes gleaming with pride as he accepted the compliment from his master.

"Maybe that's the surprise they were talking about." Brian wondered.

"Perhaps." Harry mulled over whether he should 'go to the bathroom' and summon his shade to ask it what happened last night, but decided otherwise. He was already on the way to Hogwarts, so it would only be a few hours until he found out anyway.

"So, what was your previous school like?" Hayate asked Brian, and before long, the entire compartment was chatting. They weren't bosom buddies, and there was still a lot of wariness on the side of Harry's familiars, but it wasn't as awkward as it had been when they first entered the compartment.

xxxxx

It became obvious, when they got off the train, that news about Harry's parents and 'family' had spread. Thankfully, due to all of his zombies scattered about the train, Harry wasn't as unprepared for it as he might otherwise have been. Brian and Rose, however, were once again unnerved by all of the looks and murmurs going on around them.

Harry laid a hand on their shoulders, making them jump as they looked questioningly at him. He gave them a light push towards where he could see Hagrid in the distance.

"Go with him, he'll take you to the castle. It's a different route usually used by first years that keys you into the wards. Don't worry, Fate, Hayate, and Nanoha are all going with you, this is new to them as well." Harry tried to be as encouraging as he could as he directed them towards the half-giant.

"Trying to ingratiate yourself to the Potter children?" Loki asked out of the corner of his mouth.

"It's a better idea than alienating them." Harry responded. "I don't need to make any more enemies, I'm fine with the number I have already."

"How... pragmatic." Loki smiled for a moment, before shifting into his raven form and alighting on Isis' shoulder.

The unicorn gave him an odd look, before she glanced at Bast, still in cat form, sat on Harry's head. She shook her head, muttering something inaudible under her breath, before following Harry into a thestral-drawn carriage.

The other two seats were soon filled by a pair of girls in Harry's year.

"Hello, Harry." One of them greeted, and it took a moment for Harry to recognise her.

"Sally-Anne." Harry returned the greeting. "You've changed, I almost didn't recognise you. I remember how shy you were when we first met, I'm glad that you seem far more confident and cheerful now."

"Thanks." Sally-Anne smiled, a slight dusting of pink on her cheeks. "But do you recognise my friend here?"

"Su Li, unless I'm mistaken." Harry rolled his eyes. "We _do_ have some classes together, you know."

"Hello, Harry." Su Li greeted him, though she was far more demure than Sally-Anne was.

"Hello to you too." Harry tilted his head towards her.

"Hey, Harry, there's been some weird rumours going around that I've heard, and I was wondering..." Sally-Anne began, but trailed off.

"Rumours about the Potters being alive?" He asked. "I can tell you that's true, and that I've been disowned, though I don't know what else is really true or not." That was a lie, he knew more than he was letting on. "My name is Harry Ritter now." He added.

Isis looked at Sally-Anne curiously. "How've you heard rumours? No offence, but as a muggleborn, you wouldn't really have much access to the Wizarding World gossip networks."

She blushed. "I've got a subscription for the Daily Prophet, and I heard people talking when I went to Diagon Alley to get my school stuff."

"Ah?" Isis made a noise of curiosity. "What did you hear?"

Harry paid some attention as Sally-Anne talked, Su Li joining in every now and then, with Isis. However, Harry spent most of the short journey to the castle thinking over several things on his mind, not the least of which was how the Potters were going to act in regards to him, and how he might react to them.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that, when he walked into the Great Hall, it was only Isis' sharp intake of breath that made him release something was up.

He looked up to the tall female, and saw that her eyes were locked on something at the far end of the hall. Following her gaze, Harry also froze in place.

What the bloody hell were James and Lily Potter doing here?!

Without speaking, and without taking his eyes off the two adult Potters, Harry took a seat at the Ravenclaw table, Isis sitting next to him.

He didn't pay any attention to the chatter going on around him, and he only saw Mcgonagall leave to go and retrieve the first years out of the corner of his eye. When he saw the Sorting Hat, he immediately initiated a telepathic link with it and asked if it knew anything about what the hell was going on here!

_~Well that's simple.~_ The hat replied. _~The castle does have guest rooms for visitors and guests, and the headmaster is allowed to invite others here, though that usually referred to foreign dignitaries or important guests in the past. It's completely legal, if that is what you were wondering.~_

_~That's not it!~_ Harry almost snapped at the hat, a building feeling of unease and, dare he say it, _fear_ bubbling within him. He hadn't expected this at _all_. _~Why would Dumbledore ask them to stay in the school, I know for a fact that this wasn't something either of them were planning to do themselves.~_

The hat seemed to consider things for a moment. _~I can't say much, you know that, but... there are people in the world who like to have control over things, and keep their cards close to their chest.~_

Harry pondered over that as Mcgonagall brought the first years in, Brian, Fate, Nanoha, and Hayate following on behind them.

He did manage to bring his attention back to things long enough to see where the new students were sorted, taking note that Rose herself ended up in Gryffindor. After they were all sorted, Dumbledore stood up to make a small announcement.

"I have several things to say today, but for now, join me in welcoming some other new students to our wonderful school." The old man said. "They will be joining the third year, but first they must be sorted into their houses. I ask of you all to welcome them as you would anyone else."

"Fate Harlaown." Mcgonagall called out, and several whispers sprang up amongst the students when they saw her red eyes. Fate was Harry's friend though, and he was already considering several ways to stop negative rumours being spread about her.

"Ravenclaw!" The hat called out after a short wait, and the blonde girl stood up.

When she saw which table was clapping, she walked over and joined them, coincidentally settling on the other side of Harry from Isis.

"Brian Potter." Mcgonagall called out the next one, though Harry noticed there was a tinge of warmth in her tone of voice when she spoke. Perhaps she was remembering when James Potter was a child and saw something of him in Brian.

"Gryffindor!" The hat yelled after it was finished with Brian, who stood up and went to join his sister. The boy did, however, look uncomfortable with how the red and gold clad students seemed to want to crowd around him.

"Nanoha Takamachi." Mcgonagall, thankfully, didn't mangle the foreign name, though how she would deal with Hayate's had yet to be seen.

The hat spent a fairly long time on Nanoha's head, until eventually it decided on a house.

"Hufflepuff!" It declared.

Fate seemed a bit put out that Nanoha wouldn't be in the same house as her, but she cheered up again when Harry mentally told her that there was nothing stopping the two from spending time outside of class hours.

"Hayate Yagami." Mcgonagall, once again, managed to pronounce the Asian name properly.

"Hufflepuff!" The hat decided once more, though there was also a bit of a delay between the hat being put on her head and the house being decided.

Dumbledore then said a few words before the feast appeared, saving the announcements for after the food had been eaten.

Harry didn't pay much attention to what he was actually eating, simply waiting for it to be over and for explanations to be given.

It was only after the desserts vanished that the Headmaster once again got to his feet. The murmuring and conversation around the hall slowly quietened down until everyone was looking at the Headmaster, wondering what he was going to say.

"I have several announcements to give you, now that our delicious feast has been consumed." He said. "First, we have two new professors joining our ranks this year. Filling the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts is Remus Lupin." He indicated the shabby-looking man who was looking at the Potters with a strange expression on his face, and who was being glared at by Snape.

"As for our other appointment, when professor Kettleburn told me he wished to retire, I could think of no one more appropriate to ask to take his place than our very own Rubeus Hagrid." There was more applause this time, as Hagrid was well-liked by some of the student body, more so than an unknown man at least.

"Finally, we have some guests that are staying in the castle. James and Lily Potter will be around, and I expect you to give them the same level of courtesy that you do your professors, thank you." Dumbledore finished. "Now, off to bed with you all."

There was a lot of chatter as prefects began to attract the attention of first years in order to lead them to their house common rooms. Fate, for her part, decided to follow Harry instead of the younger children. He lead her through several secret passageways in order to get there before the first years.

When they got to the entrance, he explained having to answer a riddle to get in.

"_What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in a thousand years?"_ The knocker asked.

"It can't be literal." Fate said, thinking aloud, seeing Harry looking at her. "A minute, a moment... what's the same? They're units of time and both begin with M... It's the letter M, isn't it?"

"_Correct, young Mage."_ The knocker confirmed, before the entrance opened.

"It called me a mage?" Fate asked in surprise.

"It calls me a mage knight, and I have yet to get a satisfactory answer as to why." Harry replied. "Now come on, let's get inside before the first years turn up."

Fate followed Harry into Ravenclaw tower, specifically the common room, where there was a handful of people already there, some of them chatting, some doing last minute summer homework, and others playing a game of chess or something before bed.

Harry indicated the doorway into the head boy's rooms. "You'll find me and this lot in there, I'll set the password to Mid Childa as soon as I'm inside." He then indicated the stairs leading upwards. "Up that way are the girls' rooms dormitories, and the guys' dormitories are up the other set of stairs. One of the doors will have 'Third Years' on it, so that'll be the one you need."

"Good night." Fate near-whispered, before heading off alone up the stairs.

He thought she'd do fine, Arf would be waiting for her up there at least, and everyone else was merely a telepathic communication away.

Harry, still with Bast sat on his head in cat form, and Isis, who still had Loki sat on her shoulder as a raven, entered the head boy suite. Once inside, Harry spelled the door silent, and after a sweep for eavesdropping spells, he finally did what he had wanted to do for over an hour now.

He put his hands on his head and screamed with frustration.

Having seen the signs that something was stressing him out, his familiars weren't _too _surprised by this outburst. However, they were concerned when he began to pace backwards and forwards across the room, muttering things under his breath, his eyes gaining a somewhat worrying look to them as he did so.

Reinforce decided to address the problem by materialising directly in Harry's path, making him walk right into her chest.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down to the bed, her face etched with concern.

"Guess seeing the Potters really set him off, eh?" Isis asked quietly.

Loki took off from her shoulder, transforming back into his regular form, but his expression was grim, and that made Isis think that there was far more to it than what she'd read into the situation. Of course, she decided to ask Loki to enlighten her as to what the problem was.

"The Potters are guests of the castle, of _Dumbledore_ himself." Loki replied. "It might not look like much, but in terms of politics, Dumbledore has just essentially thrown his own weight behind the two of them. In reality, it's more likely that he's simply trying to keep everything where he can see it, and possibly solidifying his grasp on the Potter family, but that doesn't change how it'll look from the outside."

"So this means bad things for Harry then." Isis condensed it down into the important bit.

"_Very_ bad things for our case." Loki confirmed. "Dumbledore has immense pull in the Wizarding World. Even without his defeat of Gellert Grindlewald, which alone would give him some power, he's also worked with Nicholas Flamel, one of the most famous people in the entire magical world, and that association gives him some more influence. _On top of that_, he is both Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot _and_ Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards."

"So really not good then." Isis looked sadly at Harry, before joining Reinforce in cuddling him.

Loki wasn't finished though. "The ICW might only be Europe and a few other countries, but that's still nothing to sneeze at. It doesn't help things that Dumbledore has been part of the Hogwarts staff since Nineteen Twenty-Five, and has been the Headmaster since Nineteen Fifty-Six. That means that several generations of students have all known the man as, at the very least, a teacher and that gives Dumbledore a lot of influence; perhaps more so than anything else."

"I'm screwed." Harry finally decided to speak up. "Completely buggered."

"It can't be _that_ bad, can it?" Isis asked hesitantly.

Harry gave her a dead look. "Isis, it is well known that Severus Snape took the dark mark and was a member of Riddle's inner circle, yet here he is, teaching children. For goodness sake, he didn't even get a trial!"

Loki sighed, and decided to show Isis just how much influence Dumbledore has. "Igor Karkaroff, a death eater, gave a list of names to the DMLE in return for letting him go. One of those names was Severus Snape. Instead of trying him, they did nothing. Do you know why?"

Isis shook her head, despite knowing that Loki would continue anyway.

"They left him alone because Dumbledore stood up and said that Snape was actually his man, and that he had his full trust." Loki finished. "That's it. No proof was given, it wasn't even asked for. On Dumbledore's word alone, Severus Snape avoided Azkaban, and was even given a job."

"Wait, no punishment, nothing at all?" Isis looked rather shocked by that.

"Absolutely none." Loki nodded. "Despite having cast at least two of the Unforgivable Curses, Snape did not even get a fine, not even a slap on the wrist, all because Albus Dumbledore stood up for him."

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Isis complained.

"Don't do that here, our master needs comforting, and I doubt vomiting on him is going to help." Loki dryly stated.

Isis threw him a mild glare, before returning to comforting Harry. The boy looked, for lack of a better term, scared, and for good reason.

That would be how he fell asleep that night, wrapped up in the arms of both Reinforce and Isis, watched over by Loki, and with Bast curled up on top of him in cat form.

Forget stressful, this year was looking to be downright dreadful.


	11. The Next Morning

AN: Okay, it's been a while, but don't despair! My muse has ran dry for my other main story, so while I'm taking a break, I'm going to update this one for a while. I _did_ consider starting a new story, either a FEAR and Harry Potter crossover with heavy Devil May Cry influence, or a Naruto and Final Fantasy one that would be more light-hearted. I'm still wondering if I should do them or not... Anyway, this chapter is a bit of an odd one, as it's a sort of bridge between two events without being too significant by itself. Also, kudos to anyone who can guess what I've done with Helena (Ha! I bet you forgot about her, kind of like Harry did with all of the Chamber nonsense), and I'd really love some help with ideas as to what Harry's boggart would look like.

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 11 – The Next Morning

The next morning found Harry waking up still sandwiched between Reinforce and Isis. As gently as he could, so he didn't wake them up, he wriggled out from between them, letting them latch onto each in other when they reached out to cuddle him some more.

Of course, as always seemed to be the case, Loki was up and about at roughly the same time as Harry. It had been said before that 'the early bird got the worm', a joking reference to Loki's previous species. Harry could only imagine how much more he'd hear that if his own animagus form was a bird, or if he learned an avian shapeshift.

Not that Harry was thinking about learning another shapeshift, simply shifting into a guinea pig was proving difficult enough, but Harry believed he almost had it. Coincidentally, he also believed that he was about ready to do his first, full animagus transformation too.

"You want to spar?" Loki asked. "Work off some stress?"

Harry sighed heavily, blowing a few strands of hair out of his face. "No, thanks for the offer though. I think I'm going to go through some of the stuff that Riddle's horcruxes added to my Tome, sort some of it out and see if any of it is at all useful to me."

"Anything in particular?" Loki asked Harry, once again writing things down in that notebook of his. "And if you're not going to question him, could you summon your shade so I can?"

A brief flare of Tiet, and Harry's shade rose from Harry's shadow before him, one claw held over its heart and slightly bowed, indicating its subservience to its master. It straightened up once fully summoned, before regarding Harry with its sharp, violet eyes.

"You have called for me, master?" The shade queried.

"I did, but it will be Loki who questions you, please answer him as well as you can." Harry instructed his shade.

"Very well." The shade answered, before turning to the raven familiar.

Harry tuned the two of them out, Loki would tell him of anything important turned up. Instead, he began to search through the things Harry had added to his Tome from Voldemort's horcruxes. Specifically, he was looking at enhancement rituals, and whether any of them were at all palatable.

Unfortunately, many weren't. While rituals in general weren't dark or evil, they had gained such a reputation due to how easy a lot of sacrificial rituals were, and because of that ease they became more well known and common. Of course, rituals had fallen out of fashion mostly because no one could really be bothered setting them up when a few flicks of a wand and a spoken word could achieve so much and be far simpler.

A few rituals later and Harry had to keep himself from vomiting. Say what you want about the man's morals and desire to control, Voldemort had been a formidable wizard, one of the strongest in history, and one of the reasons for that was undoubtedly the way he had done absolutely _anything_ for more power.

There were rituals here that required someone to sacrifice a woman in the process of giving birth, and then ritualistically torment the newborn child before sacrificing that too. There were rituals that had all sorts of requirements, many of them depraved and fowl, but the memories obtained from Voldemort's soul fragments suggested that he had undertaken them sometimes multiple times.

Harry was feeling somewhat thankful that Terran magic didn't tend towards massive spells, and that Voldemort didn't dabble too much in Arithmancy and spell-crafting, because some of the things he could have done with his enhanced reserves, magical density, regeneration rate, and lack of morals was rather scary.

There were a few rituals, however, that didn't have too much of a price to turn Harry away from them. He didn't need any more power, his reserves of mana were more than large enough, but increasing the density of his mana, its potency, sounded like a good idea, and all it would take was fasting for a week and losing the pigmentation of his skin, leaving him pale. A few more rituals, ones to slightly increase eyesight, reflexes, and a few other things had minor costs, such as his appendix or wisdom teeth.

Harry made a note of these rituals, and would discuss the advantages and disadvantages of them later. He'd speak with Fate, Nanoha, and Hayate about it, of course, but also Lindy and Shamal, the latter of which would be able to check if there were any health reasons that would prevent him going through with them.

Once he'd finished that, Harry pulled out all of his golem plans and began to mentally critique them.

His Beelzebub golem was the one he used most frequently, and had so far proven to be the most adaptable of them all. Granted, it wasn't very powerful or durable, but that was expected given that it was a swarm of small, flying creatures. Its reconnaissance value had decreased now that Harry was using small zombified creatures and his shade in place of them, but their value as a support golem was immense, especially when used in conjunction with his Fog of War support skill.

Dante the Cannon, in comparison, was a very situational golem. Against a slow moving or stationary target, it was absolutely devastating, but anything that was fast or could get close enough to assault it with a weapon wasn't overly threatened by it. It also failed against anything that could blast it from a distance, as the golem itself was not exactly speedy.

Vritra the Serpent was an odd one. Rather than the magically-resistant alloy the other golems were made of, this one had been crafted from the skeleton of the dead basilisk, and used more Necromancy than Animation in its construction. It was the most independently intelligent of his golems, and it was also very cheap mana wise. The fact that it could turn surrounding materials, both solid and liquid, into the 'flesh' of its body gave it a regenerative ability, but that only took the edge off the fact it was also one of the more fragile golems for its size.

Herakles the Legion, now that was an odd golem. Floating metal balls with four arms, they were definitely simple. In fact, Harry had created them more for mundane things than actual combat. They made good workers, and had done most of the construction on Harry's new home in Japan. In a fight, however, they were little more than basic golems, capable of holding a weapon in their hands, but also easily taken out. Not a combat golem, but still useful.

Now, the last golem, Siegfried the Knight. It was odd that Harry's first golem, the one that he'd lost to the basilisk and what this one was based off, had so far seen the least combat. This second 'incarnation' of the knight-type golem was fifteen feet tall, unlike the twenty foot tall original. Also unlike the original, it didn't have any fingers, its weapons being a physical part of its body. On its left forearm, there was an AMF enhanced kite shield, and attached to the end of its left arm, with an articulated wrist, was a broadsword made to fit the golem's size. The sword itself had been enchanted with a rather potent, if a little grey, cutting curse to make it more effective too.

"Perhaps I should look into making just one more golem." Harry mused to himself. "Or I could make a few more of Siegfried, it _would_ be more effective if it had others to fight beside it, perhaps three more for a total of four?"

Pulling up a blank piece of paper, Harry began sketching a few ideas out. "Why not both? I'll have to see how much metal I have left, but I can always get more. Three more units for Siegfried, and... what sort of golem should this new one be? Perhaps something that uses some form of magical attacks? My other golems are either physical, or they only use minor bits of magic..."

xxxxx

Loki watched with a fond smile as Harry began to design his next project.

He had finished questioning the shade, and some of what he had been told was a little worrying. Firstly, there was no indication of how Dumbledore had found the Potters the previous night, and the ability to locate someone was a very underrated ability.

Secondly, Dumbledore seemed to have some sort of interest in not only Harry, but Brian and Rose as well. Perhaps, Loki mused, it was because of the prophecy, though now that Lily and James Potter had prevented Voldemort killing them on Halloween twelve years ago, had they defied him four times now? If that was the case, Rose might be exempt from the prophecy, especially as she was born _after_ that Halloween night. Still, the only one physically marked by Voldemort had been Harry with his thunderbolt scar.

Dumbledore had managed to calm James down, if only a tiny bit, from his 'must kill Harry' way of thinking. He was trying, though with little success, to get James to rethink his desire of calling for Harry's 'death', or destruction as he'd termed it. They would have to see what James did during the upcoming Wizengamot meeting to really know what the man's intentions were.

Loki dismissed the shade, and seeing that Harry had no further orders for it, the shade was willing to return to its post in James Potter's shadow. Once it was gone, he wandered over to Harry and began to look at his notes, sketches, and plans over his shoulder.

Magical engineering and puppetry weren't Loki's specialities, that was more something Harry enjoyed, but he could still understand the notes already scattered across the paper. From what he could see, Harry was finally stretching his more 'artistic' side, designing something that both covered a 'speciality' his current golems didn't, and actually looked elegant while it did so.

Loki also knew better than to disturb Harry when he got like this, and since even Breakfast was hours away, there was no reason to rush him. In fact, this would give Loki a chance to look through his notebook once again, tweaking some of the ideas and plans that it held.

He knew that Harry had been curious about what he was writing in his little book, and if he had asked, Loki_ would_ have divulged what he'd been working on. Loki was also aware, however, that a lot of what he had prepared would be... unpalatable to Harry.

Still, if things did degenerate too quickly, Loki _would_ ensure that Harry survived the fallout, _no matter what_. His devotion to his master was scary in its intensity and focus. In fact, if anyone actually knew of it, they may even compare it to Bellatrix Lestrange's fanaticism towards the Dark Lord, though with less of a focus on killing people and more of a focus on their master remaining whole and healthy.

Loki had already considered the possibility of slipping the children, nephews, and nieces of prominent families distance-activated curses in case he ever needed a hostage or two. He could even think of several methods he could use to get them to his targets, but he held back for now, it hadn't been necessary, and Harry's anger would be immense.

Now, with the Potter threat hanging over them – mostly Harry – perhaps he should look into such possibilities once again...

xxxxx

Whispers followed them as they walked through the halls of Hogwarts, the only reason they weren't getting lost being the fact that they followed some of their house mates down through the castle. It was already confusing the both of them, as they knew the entrance to their common room was on the seventh floor, yet they'd gone down two staircases and up three, and had somehow managed to end up on the ground floor.

Rose Potter stuck closer to her brother than she probably ever had before. She hadn't exactly had the most 'fun' introduction to her house ever. Everyone seemed to crowd around her and her brother, asking them so many questions at once that she couldn't even hear one to give any sort of answer.

Even when she'd headed to her dormitory, the girls there descended on her like rabid sharks. Rose herself might not have been one for gossip, but she knew the stereotype of her gender. Her female year mates however, the pure and half bloods that knew who the 'Potters' were at least, put that to shame.

It had been difficult for her to get to sleep, and she had been the first up in the morning as well. Heading straight down to the common room, she'd found her brother waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. Thankfully, there weren't many people in the common room, what looked like a couple by the fireplace and a bushy-haired brunette that looked around Brian's age, and so no one saw them leave through the portrait hole.

Of course, this is the point where they got lost. Walking down the corridor, they'd look out a window to see the sun, and a few metres further down, they'd look out of a window that showed them the castle's shadow, and those windows were on the same side of the corridor!

The inhabitants of several paintings tried to help, giving them directions and instructions, but that didn't help much. Eventually, they found some more Gryffindor students, Brian and Rose having been lost long enough for them to get up and ready, which the followed to the Great Hall.

The two of them quickly took a seat at the Gryffindor table. Coincidentally, when they looked up, they had an unobstructed view of Harry Ritter sat at the Ravenclaw table. He had his familiars with him, and even a ghost as well. They didn't know who the ghost was – a female one dressed entirely in grey – but Harry didn't look entirely happy with what she was saying to him.

A short way down the table from Harry, the new blonde third year was sat. Her red eyes were looking around curiously, though they often landed on Harry himself and the Hufflepuff table for some reason. The girl looked an odd mixture of nervous and curious, though Rose privately thought she was very pretty. Brian also couldn't help but think of how attractive she was, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

They picked at their food, wondering how their day was going to go, and the two of them, Brian especially, wondered how long it would take an owl to travel from Scotland to Canada and back. They did, after all, want to keep in contact with the friends they'd made growing up, though the whole not really being 'Evans' but 'Potter' thing might make things rather awkward.

More students drifted into the Great Hall in ones, twos, and groups, before drifting off to their own house tables. Even if they were blind and deaf, neither Rose nor Brian could possibly fail to notice the attention that was focused on himself, his sister, and their disowned brother. If his parents had been there just then, they would undoubtedly be the object of much scrutiny as well.

"Mr. Potter." A female voice made Brian jump, as he'd been trying to block everything out.

He looked up to see Professor Mcgonagall standing there with something in her hand, a small stack of them held in her other arm.

"Your timetable, Mr. Potter." She handed it to him. "Lessons start tomorrow, so I would advise you to ask another student to tell you how to get to all of your lessons, especially as this castle can be rather confusing." She handed another timetable to Rose. "The same advice applies to you as well, Miss. Potter."

"Thank you." Brian mumbled, far more polite and subdued than he used to be back in Canada.

He didn't say anything else until Mcgonagall had moved on, but when she was out of earshot, he turned to his sister.

"Do you think we should ask Harry how to get around?" He asked her.

"Is that a good idea?" Rose asked him back. "I mean, what would mum and dad say if they knew?"

"He's been polite with us so far." Brian replied, though he was a little uneasy. "And, well, he's not... as in your face as our house mates were last night too." They both shivered as they remembered that, the sheer amount of attention focused on them had been rather unpleasant, and pretty scary too. "As for mum and dad... ah, I won't tell if you don't?"

Rose shifted about on the bench, biting her lip as she thought about things, before nodding firmly in reply to Brian's questioning statement. The two of them were in this together, as brother and sister, and they would do things their own way, not following their parents' every word.

This was partially due to the fact a small, unacknowledged part of them sort of resented their parents at the moment. Whether the blame was truly theirs or not, it was their parents' decision to do what they had with their brother's corpse – Brian in particular was really uncomfortable with how easily it could have been his body used, he and Harry were twins after all – and their parents had also made the decisions to both flee Britain, and return like they had done.

"Can we just go up to him and ask though?" Rose asked, feeling uncharacteristically nervous. From what she could see, people seemed to stick to their own house tables, and no one seemed to be going from one to another. Did none of them have any friends in houses other than their own?

"Maybe we should wait until he gets up to go." Brian agreed with Rose. "Ask him in the entrance hall, or the corridor, or something? I think we should just have breakfast right now."

Rose silently agreed, before reaching for some buttered toast and jam.

xxxxx

Harry, after receiving his own timetable from Professor Flitwick, turned back to the Grey Lady, Helena Ravenclaw, a troubled expression on his face. He had good reason to wear that expression though, as it had slipped his mind that last Halloween she had stated her desire to 'unravel the mystery around him'.

"So what is your answer, Harry Ritter?" Helena asked, a smug smile on her face and a gleam in her eyes. "I have haunted you for ten months now, and I know more than anyone else what you hide. Will you still deny my request? Will you still squander my offer, or will I have to _force_ things."

The look Helena threw at the head table made it quite clear what Helena would do if Harry said no, and he really couldn't afford to have any of his secrets out in the open. Just one minor thing that showed him a bad light may be his undoing in Wizarding Britain, and the less said about such things as his necromancy the better.

Stalling for time, Harry reached for his Tome of Shadows, pulling it out and silently searching for anything relevant to ghosts and similar apparitions. He discarded everything to do with the theory of why ghosts exist and what they truly are, instead flicking through anything that related to affecting them in some manner.

Helena didn't interrupt him, instead choosing to remain silent and wait for Harry's answer. She did not expect it to take long, and she had insisted that Harry make a decision before he left the Great Hall. Due to haunting him, she knew quite well about his studying habits, and she wasn't going to risk him finding some way to silence her before she got what she wanted.

Why was she a Ravenclaw again and not a Slytherin?

Oh yes, her ruthlessness was limited to her desire for knowledge, that was it.

Harry was just about to agree with Helena when he came across something that looked familiar. In fact, it was the ritual he'd used to summon his shade, what it had referred to, derogatory, as 'magical' necromancy, a mere shadow of true necromancy.

Harry tapped a gloved finger on one of the knives on the table, cleaning it. Another tap and a whispered spell sharpened it. Removing his left glove and putting his hand under the table, Harry began to cut a runic circle into his own flesh. He ignored the pain as best he could, and avoided getting blood everywhere.

It took several minutes, but eventually Harry had cut the circle onto his hand. It wasn't identical to the one he'd used to summon his shade, but elements of it were the same. Rather than summoning a spirit and binding it to him, with said spirit's agreement, he was instead binding a spiritual entity in a way that bore slight similarities to the Unbreakable Vow, though the consequences would be less harsh.

Harry held out his hand, palm up to Helena, who began examining the circle he'd cut into it.

"I will agree to share my knowledge with you, what I possess currently and in the future, if you agree to be bound to never divulge information of mine that could prove detrimental to me, or if you have harmful intent in mind." Harry made his own offer to Helena, hoping she would accept it.

He also hoped the circle he'd just painfully cut into his own flesh would work like he intended it to. He didn't exactly have a lot of time to figure out all of the details, or look for something better, or even to consult with Beth and Septima, both of whom knew more than he about such things.

Helena laid one ghostly hand in Harry's bloody one, before nodding her agreement. Loki, having thrown up a few misdirection spells when Harry first began cutting into himself, put up a few more, and tried to ensure no one saw what was actually going on. If someone did see... well, suffice to say, they would have questions.

Isis, for her part, was glaring at Helena, mostly for the way she'd backed Harry into a corner, partially because it had caused Harry self-harm, but also because of the way Helena's hand was placed elegantly on top of Harry's, as if she was agreeing to a dance at a ball or something.

Bast was also glaring at Helena, though not as heavily as Isis was, and she kept an eye out for those who might be looking at Harry, like a proper bodyguard would. She was also wondering if there were any spells that would let her physically 'hit' a spirit, as she couldn't afford to have a hole in her defences, and an inability to deal with non-physical enemies was a big one.

Harry channelled a small amount of mana and tiet to his bare hand, doing his best to 'hold' the ghost's hand in his own. Their clasped hands started to glow slightly, and Harry thought that was it, until he felt a sudden jerk inside his chest, as if someone had just got a fishing hook into him and pulled hard on it.

It was latched onto... his mana and tiet?

The glow between Harry's and Helena's hands suddenly went from mild to incandescent. The pull on Harry's immense mana reserves, and his slowly growing tiet reserves, made Harry shake with pain. His body was _not_ meant to handle the vast amounts of power flowing through him, or at least not all at once. The pathways his magic and life-force moved through was stretched to bursting with the enormous quantity of power forced through it every second.

Loki, once again, began to rapidly layer as many misdirection charms as possible, as fast as he possibly could, in an attempt to keep whatever the hell was going on between Harry and Helena a secret. However, those wizards who were adept at detecting magic _did_ notice something, if the way Dumbledore and Flitwick sharply swivelled their heads in their direction.

Thankfully though, the light show calmed down very quickly, having only lasted a couple of seconds from start to finish. When the light died down, there was nothing visibly different about either Harry or Helena, aside from the obvious exhaustion on the side of Harry, who looked as if he hadn't slept in a week now.

Helena tilted her head to the side curiously. "I'm going to take a guess and say that wasn't meant to happen." She stated, before examining her own hand with a frown marring her brow. "Strangely, I feel different, though what your little ritual did escapes me."

"It bound us." Harry managed to yawn out. "It bound our promise, but... I feel like it did more than that." He gave her a rather upset look. "This is what happens when you rush me, things get weird. I am going to fully blame you for any 'unexpected surprises' that occur as a consequence of this."

"That's rather petulant of you." Helena admonished him, though her expression was more teasing than malicious.

Harry huffed as he healed the damage he'd done to his own hand and slipped the glove back on. He then stood up and went to leave the hall. However, before he did so, he looked back over his shoulder and gave Helena one last thing to think about.

"You'd better hope that whatever just happened doesn't cause any problems, you don't just 'test' bindings like that." He sighed, knowing that it was also his fault if something happened, he really should have been more careful. "Anyway, come by my room tonight. You can look through my tome then, and you can ask me whatever questions you have too."

"Farewell, little necromancer." Helena waved him off.

xxxxx

Brian and Rose saw when Harry got up to leave the hall and hurried after him. They did notice, though, that the blonde girl with red eyes and two Hufflepuff girls also got up to follow him, in addition to his odd familiars. They caught up to them in the Entrance Hall, where they had stopped, and Harry was giving them a curious look.

"Is there something I can help you with?" He asked.

Rose was the one to take initiative and stepped forward. "Me and my brother are new here, and we were wondering if you could show us around a bit, help us get used to the castle."

Harry shrugged. "I can do that, especially as I was going to show these three around anyway."

"Hey again." Hayate greeted them. "How was your first night here?"

Rose looked at Brian, her brother matching her stare, before both turned back to Hayate and spoke as one. ""Terrible.""

"What was so bad about it?" Nanoha asked, frowning.

"Our whole house pretty much got right up in our faces and started asking questions too fast for us to answer." Brian told her, shivering slightly at the memory. "It was pretty scary having eighty or so people focus on us like that. I swear, some of the girls had this hungry look in their eyes that made me think they were going to steal my underwear or something."

Hayate was the only one that laughed at the weak attempt at a joke. Nanoha just liked slightly perturbed, while Fate seemed to be the only one listen to Harry as he talked about the school. Harry's familiars ignored it, preferring to talk amongst themselves, Isis in particular having a serious expression on her face as she said something to Loki, who slowly nodded in response.

"Well, from what I've heard, the Potter name is famous, and not just in Britain either, but the entire world. I've still not quite worked out why it's that far spread though." Hayate replied to him.

Brian's eyes flickered to Harry for a moment. "I thought it was all because... Harry survived the killing curse where no one else has ever done so before."

"'Survived' is probably the wrong word to use." Harry called back over his shoulder, frowning. "After all, it's not like I was 'alive' in the first place." An annoyed look crossed his face. "Now, come on, I thought you asked me to show you how to navigate through the castle."

Brian nodded, before hurrying a little to catch up with Harry, who was telling them what was on the ground floor, and how the different staircases and passageways connected to the different floors. Thankfully, in Brian's opinion at least, there were some that didn't change much, unlike others.

Seriously, a staircase that takes you somewhere different on a Friday? A door that will only open if recite a haiku to it? A patch of wall that needs to be breathed on before it opens up into a passageway? Just what sort of insane person built this castle, or even bothered to enchant it in such a way?

His mumblings were heard by Harry, who decided to answer him.

"Think about it for a moment." Harry told him. "This castle is not _just_ a place of learning, but a fortification as well, against both muggles of old and other magicals. While you will hear about a lot of goblin wars in History of Magic, there were also wars between different races, factions, and groups. Wizards and Witches the world over have a rather bloody history, which is continued even now, with the Dark Lords such as 'Grindlewald' and 'Voldemort'."

"If anyone ever invaded, and managed to get past the external wards, they'd be rather easy to separate and hunt down within the castle." Loki explained when he saw that Harry's words had gone over their heads. "The armour is animated, as are the statues, and there are _many_ curses embedded into the very walls of this castle. Any invader would have to fight through all that if they wished to take the castle, getting lost and separated from his group will only make his death come all the swifter."

Brian looked a little queasy at the talk of death, and it was probably made worse with the casual way that Loki mentioned it. Nanoha and Hayate looked a slight bit uneasy too, but Fate didn't respond, except for the fact she let her eyes focus on the ground before her feet, refusing to look up and meet anyone's eyes.

Loki, Bast, and Harry all noticed her reaction, with the latter laying a hand on her shoulder and giving her a slight, soft smile. Fate hesitantly returned Harry's smile, but it was clear to see that shadows still danced and twisted behind her burgundy eyes.

That small action did catch Hayate's eye, and she honestly wasn't sure what to make of it. A lewd insinuation danced on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it. Even without being able to see Fate's eyes from where she stood, she could tell that such a comment would be most unwelcome.

Instead, Hayate chose to 'glomp' the both of them, grinning widely as she did so. This earned her a disgruntled grumble from Harry, and an eye roll of all things from the demure Fate! Ah, would wonders never cease. Still, both seemed to realise what Hayate had done, in her own way of course, which earned her a small grin from both of them.

"That's the first floor done, if you paid attention to me that is." Harry spoke aloud. "Now, let's go up a floor, and we can go around all of the used rooms there. Honestly, there isn't many, one classroom per subject, one office per staff member, and a few clubrooms here and there. Apart from the kitchens, Great Hall, and dormitories, that's pretty much it."

"Don't forget the hospital wing." Isis chirped. "The bathrooms too, and the library."

"Okay, okay." Harry huffed. "So there's a _few_ more places than that, but the fact remains that this castle is mostly made up of empty rooms. Seven floors above ground and three below, all for around three hundred students, a thousand when the magical population was at its height. So much wasted space."

"The castle _does_ seem rather big." Rose agreed. Inside, she wondered just how much of that was actually to make an impression, they managed to fit the entire student body _and_ staff into the Great Hall at feasts without trouble after all. She also wondered just how many people the castle could truly hold, and whether or not there'd ever been a siege or something that had required somewhere close to that number to reside within.

"Let's go, the next floor up is through this door." Harry indicated a rather innocuous looking wooden door off to their left. "It's used as a shortcut a lot, because it can take you to the fifth floor too. For now, simply knock on it three times before going through, and don't go through it in groups of more than four at a time."

xxxxx

Several hours later, Harry and his group ended up in the room that the 'study club' used. There were already a few people there, most of them finishing off their summer homework that they should have already done. A few asked Harry for assistance, or to explain something they didn't quite understand.

Harry, as he usually did, explained things to them in ways they could understand, whether that be a bullet point list of step by step instructions, or some form of metaphor didn't matter. Harry felt a smile curling his lips upward as he felt a surge of pride from Reinforce due to his tutoring skills.

Once everyone had been helped, Harry sat himself down and pulled out his Tome of Shadows. He began to look up anything he might need to make his newest golem work as he imagined it, making notes on a separate sheet of paper whenever something occurred to him, or some fragment of runes or magical theory caught his eye.

His familiars settled around him, as did the Uminari group and the Potter children. It was like this that Severus Snape found him in the middle of the afternoon. He held back his usual venomous and scathing remarks, feeling unsure whether he should still direct them at the now 'Ritter' boy, or transfer them to the 'new' Potter spawn.

"Mr. Ritter, the headmaster wishes to see you." Snape called out, his voice carefully neutral. "You know where his office is, and I'm sure you know of the Headmaster's fondness for wine gums, so don't be too shocked if he offers you one of those dreadful things." Harry picked up on the message that 'wine gums' was the password needed to enter the Headmaster's office.

As he bid farewell to his friends, acquaintances, and those that were in the room with him, Harry left the room, his familiars right behind him. However, Snape did have one last comment to make before he let him leave to see what the Headmaster wanted.

"I would advise you to not take your little animals to every lesson with you this year." The Potions Master said. "You already know how 'part-humans' are viewed in the magical world, and you should take care to at least appear to be a respectable member of society."

Once around the corner, Harry let the frown appear on his face.

"Did _Severus Snape_ really just give me advice?" He muttered to himself.


	12. Deep Thoughts and Philosophical Discours

AN: And another chapter out already. The next one should cover the first day of lessons as well as the Wizengamot meeting, or at least part of it. Any suggestions on how I should play that out are welcome, and I look forward to hearing your opinions on the matter. Now, for last chapter, I bet some of you forgot about Helena, eh? Well so did Harry, what with the whole 'chamber of secrets' thing that was going on, and it came back to bite him on the ass. Yes, a ghost just blackmailed Harry, you got that right, and no, Harry was not going to try and use necromantic invocations against her to try and threaten and/or destroy her, because that would bring down a lot of suspicion on him, even if she didn't manage to get away and make good on her threats, because he was the last person that's interacted with her for decades suspicion would immediately be on him. It would be so not a good thing if people thought he could use 'Dark Arts' that would harm or kill a ghost.

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 12 – Deep Thoughts and Philosophical Discourse

Harry paused before the Headmaster's door, his wand slipping out of his sleeve and into his hand. Loki gave him a curious look, but he seemed to have some idea of what Harry was thinking, and was thus unsurprised when Harry gave a murmured '_Homenum Revelio'_ and a twitch of his wand.

"There are three people inside." Harry told them, though he didn't elaborate. All that spell did was tell you how many living humans were in an area, not anything about them.

"Dumbledore, Lily, and James?" Isis asked, to which Harry only shook his head.

"I don't know, but we're about to find out." He sighed, before activating his Combat Equipment and knocking on the door.

"Ah, Harry, please come in." Dumbledore's voice came through the door.

Harry did so, his familiars right behind him. Once inside, his eyes flickered around the room for a moment in confusion. He couldn't see the other two people that had registered to his spell, and there wasn't even the tell-tale distortion in the air that would have told him they'd used a disillusionment charm.

"Something the matter, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, having noticed the wandering eyes.

"Nothing much, but I could have sworn you weren't alone in here." He replied.

Dumbledore smiled lightly. "Ah, you're spell a moment ago?" He chuckled. "Unfortunately for you, I have many strange and wonderful artefacts in this room with me. It's troublesome, but some of them react to spells in weird ways, and with the way a revealing charm scans an area, one or more of them will have thrown it off in some way."

Dumbledore then looked Harry up and down, mentally noting the unusual and somewhat elaborate attire he was wearing. Of course, Dumbledore had never seen Harry's Combat Equipment before, so he wouldn't know that what Harry had on was technically magically created armour.

"Thank you for telling me that, headmaster, I hadn't known that." Harry frowned, wondering why that had been left out of the book he'd read. "Anyway, you called for me?"

"Ah, I did, didn't I?" Dumbledore smiled at Harry. "Now, I had been meaning to ask about a few things, but an occurrence at breakfast made the number of questions I wish to ask rise. Shall we start with that? What were you doing at breakfast that needed so much mana?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really know what happened there, it was a surprise to me as well. It felt like something grabbed roughly onto my magic and pulled at it hard, leaving me rather tired afterwards."

That was a partial truth. He _did_ know what had caused the surge in mana – namely whatever the binding between him and Helena had caused – but he had not expected it to pull that much mana, and tiet, out of him, so he was being completely honest there.

Dumbledore didn't speak, levelling a somewhat flat look Harry's way. Both of them knew that wasn't the full story, Harry because he was part of what happened, and Dumbledore because of the privacy, misdirection, and illusion charms that had been put up. After all, if he wasn't doing anything, then why would there be a need to make it _look_ like he wasn't doing anything?

After several minutes of silence, which Harry easily ignored by mentally conversing with Reinforce and her opinions regarding what Dumbledore had implied, as well as why else he would wish to speak with Harry – and they had a good idea what that might be about.

Dumbledore sighed, realising he wasn't going to get any further elaboration. "I wish you would trust me, Harry, I only mean the best for everyone." Harry didn't respond to that, simply waiting for what else Dumbledore wanted to say to him.

"Now, Harry, you're parents told me a... rather disturbing story the other day." The Headmaster told him. "I was wondering if it was at all possible to have this story confirmed or denied."

"Headmaster, aside from the recent upheaval, my only memory of my 'parents' is more than a decade old, so I could hardly tell you about something they believe. Also, as I'm sure you know, I have been removed from the 'Potter' family and can no longer claim that as my name or any relation to the family. I'm a 'Ritter' now, and always will be." Harry said, his voice soft as he told the older man that. It still hurt that his 'family' just threw him away like that, even if there wasn't even a 'relationship' to speak of.

"I see." Dumbledore said, more to himself than to Harry. "And how do you feel about that?"

"That's a rather personal question, headmaster." Harry frowned at the man's nosiness. "It's none of your business, but... it's not nice. I know that, since they abandoned me as a child, I shouldn't really expect to be smothered with love, but they are still my birth parents, the only ones I shall ever have."

Dumbledore bowed his head. "I know, James and Lily made a terrible mistake, and now you are suffering for it. I hope, however, that you can look past this and perhaps a brighter future can be found. I wouldn't count yourself an outcast of the family yet, James has always been hotheaded, and he probably acted without thinking. Please, for their sake and your own, don't take your anger out on them or anyone else."

Harry's frown deepened. "Are you asking me... not to seek 'revenge' against them?" He asked. "That's... Headmaster, I have no intention of starting anything, but if they do something to me, I _will_ retaliate. I refuse to let other people walk all over me, I'm not a doormat."

Dumbledore didn't look too happy at that response. "Harry, retaliating will only make things worse. An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind, and someone needs to stand above the squabbles and end the cycle of hatred. The best thing would be to let things go, not escalate them."

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind?" Harry shook his head. "If that was so, then everyone would be equal in darkness, no? As for ending the 'cycle of hatred'... I think that will only work if everyone wants it to end. It's no use not fighting back, because if someone gets away with something unpunished, they will only do it again. Human nature will see to that."

Loki leaned forward at this point, inserting himself into the conversation. "Headmaster, I believe we've gotten somewhat off track here. You said you wished to ask Harry a few questions, yes? In that case, if you're asking _as_ headmaster, then you should really restrict them to ones about Harry's academics and his actions while in the castle."

Dumbledore sighed. "Very well, I have but two things left to ask. Firstly, Madam Pomfrey wishes to know whether you intend to take the healer's oath, and whether you wish to be her assistant this year in the hospital wing. If so, it will be more paperwork I have to fill out."

"I don't intend to take the oath." Harry replied. "The standard one is very restrictive in my opinion, and I know that not taking it would prevent me from ever becoming a full healer, but that's my decision. I would be willing to be Madam Pomfrey's assistant though, in some of my free time."

Dumbledore nodded his head and made a note of Harry's answer. "Now, secondly, since you did so well on the extra exams Professors Babbling and Vector put you forward for, it has been decided that you should be given this." Dumbledore handed over a list on parchment. "That is all of the examinations that the Department of Education put on twice a year. If you feel that you are capable of self study in a subject, then we can put your name forward for the exams. It will cost you ten galleons per exam for every one that Hogwarts does not host. Please give me an answer by the first of next month of which ones, if any, you wish to take."

"Thank you, headmaster. Is that everything?" Harry asked.

"It is, you may go now." Dumbledore responded.

Harry bid a last farewell to Dumbledore, before he left the office. His three familiars stood at his back, concealing him from the headmaster's sight.

xxxxx

A few minutes later, Harry and company slipped into an unoccupied classroom. The first thing he did after shutting the door, was open the window. From outside, a dozen small insects flew in and crawled up Harry's sleeves and into the expanded pockets concealed there.

Loki gave Harry a look. "He was lying, wasn't he? There were two other people in there with him, I noticed the coloured smoke from one of his trinkets seemed to touch something solid."

Harry nodded his head. "Yes, there were two people under invisibility cloaks there with their wands pointed at me. One I recognised as Alastor Moody, known as Mad Eye, but I didn't recognise the other one. It was a large, coloured man, looking to be in his early thirties, with a single gold hoop earring in his left ear."

Loki nodded his head, filing the description away. He'd find out who the man was soon enough, there weren't many coloured witches and wizards in Britain, and the earring was a useful identifying mark.

Reinforce materialised next to Harry, a worried frown on her face. "Those questions Dumbledore was asking though... he seemed more concerned with your attitude than whether you were some sort of undead thing, didn't he? I wonder why that's what he focused on."

Isis snorted. "It's so obvious even I can see it. Remember that the Potters think that Harry is Voldemort? Dumbledore's questions meant to ascertain whether or not Harry truly is possessed by his soul, or even a fragment of it. Not an invalid concern, what with the horcruxes who knows where, and we don't know how many of those he _did_ end up making, just that he planned to make six."

Loki agreed with her. "The two hidden people were likely there to help subdue you if it did appear that you were Riddle, though I'm unsure whether they've thought up a way to deal with us familiars as well. They may have found a spell or something for animagi or transfigured animals that could possibly react badly to us."

Harry and Reinforce let out simultaneous sighs.

"That's something we're still unsure of." Reinforce commented, with Harry nodding in agreement.

"We don't fully know how Terran Magic will affect Belkan and Mid-Childan magic, or vice versa. The styles and applications of it are simply too different from one another, and there's no guarantee that a Barrier Jacket or similar defense will stand up to the higher end Terran combat spells, like blasting curses, organ liquefying spells, and the other nasty stuff that Death Eaters tend to use, the ones that are meant to overpower or pierce Terran shield spells." Harry continued.

"The 'best' solution then is to not get hit." Loki shrugged. "Hell, even the dreaded killing curse won't do a thing unless you actually hit someone with it, and you can summon or levitate something into its path. Harry's Beelzebub swarm would be able to soak up I don't know how many spells before they're destroyed. Those golems are robust and are meant for taking magical damage, even generating a very slight AMF to make it harder for magic to destroy them."

"Loki, the best solution is _always_ to avoid being hit." Harry rolled his eyes. "That doesn't mean you won't be hit though, no matter how good at dodging you are. It only takes one lucky hit to turn the tide of a battle around, as I'm sure even Professor Binns could tell you. In addition to that, there are spells that simply cause an effect without a small 'blast' of magic, like the levitation charm."

"True." Loki admitted. "And of course you can't defend yourself too well if taken by surprised or ambushed."

"Enough of that for now." Reinforce stepped in before Harry said something else. "The only thing we can do is prepare for every eventuality we can. Now, shall we get back to our rooms? I'm sure we can all find something to do before supper, no?"

Isis was the first one to respond. "I'm going to be borrowing Loki, if that's alright, and while you're in lesson too, Harry. I _really_ need to work on my combat skills, and given how often you and Loki spar, you're both far ahead of me in that regard."

Harry agreed with the, currently serious, Isis. "Snape did suggest that it might be a better idea if I don't drag you all to every single one of my lessons with me this year. Bast and Reinforce should be enough, and we can work something out if she wants to spar with you while I'm in lesson once in a while. Is that okay with everyone?"

Loki and Isis both gave verbal agreements, Bast nodded her head, and Reinforce smiled at Harry.

"Right then, let's go back to our rooms. I want to work on my latest designs, and I might also craft a scale model if I'm happy with it." Harry said, before heading off to Ravenclaw tower, Bast following him, while Isis and Loki headed off to do some training, and Reinforce returned herself to inside of Harry's body.

xxxxx

Just before Harry entered the Ravenclaw Head Boy's suite that he was using, primarily to keep his female familiars out of the boy's dormitory, Harry stopped as he found the wall next to the door reforming into another door, out of which stepped an older, female Ravenclaw.

Harry recognised her, she was Penelope Clearwater, this year's Head Girl if he remembered right. The Head Boy was, unless he was mistaken, Percy Weasley of Gryffindor, a pompous boy, but he meant well, and he was a rather rule-oriented individual. Penelope, on the other hand, was a lot more relaxed, though she wouldn't stand for anyone being bullied, and was always willing to help people out, whether they were her house mates or not.

"Oh, Harry!" Penelope said in surprise when she saw him. "I'd forgotten you were using the Head Boy's rooms, but this does give me a good opportunity to talk to you about something."

"What is it you need?" Harry asked curiously.

"It's in regards to that study club thing you have going." She told him. "I was wondering if you were still doing it this year, and whether you are willing to open it up to the older years."

"That 'study club' wasn't exactly an arranged thing, it just sort of 'happened'." Harry replied. "However, I will still go there and be available for anyone who wants to ask me a question or two. I don't mind who asks me, so long as they are at least polite."

"Then you won't mind if a few notices are put up pointing people in towards the room you use?" Penelope asked.

"Go ahead." Harry responded. "It's set aside for quiet study, so it might as well be used for such."

"Thank you, Harry." Penelope chirped cheerily, before heading towards the exit.

Harry, in turn, entered the Head Boy's suite. Once inside, and the door had been shut behind him and Bast, Reinforce once again materialised. Harry himself took a seat, once again taking out the designs for his new golem, and continued trying to figure out how best to pull it off. Reinforce went into Harry's trunk and pulled out a fantasy novel to read, and then laid down to do just that. Bast also went into Harry's trunk, but instead of a book, she pulled out some knitting needles and wool, before attempting to work out how to knit a scarf.

So far, she wasn't having much success.

Harry and Reinforce warily eyed the, in their opinion, disaster waiting to happen. Neither of them had forgotten the last time Bast had been left to her own devices, and nor had they forgotten the monstrosity that the cat-girl had created. Seriously, no matter what you do to it, wool isn't supposed to be able to survive a hit from an S+ class aimed bombardment spell!

Harry's attention was brought back to his designs as he sketched out several rune arrays that he might possibly use for his next golems. While it was actually rather easy putting something together that would work, it was by far more difficult getting something that was both effective and energy efficient.

Then there was the fact that runes needed to be balanced if used in groups. A single rune by itself was stable, but pairing runes up made it less so, and then adding more runes to a single array made it more and more difficult to balance. That was why the vast majority of complex runic arrays were made up of numerous, smaller runic arrays that accomplished one portion of what the final one did.

Reinforce's gaze shifted from Bast to Harry as she heard him begin to mutter to himself under his breath, something about 'elemental alignment', 'transmission mediums', and 'conflicting processes'. A smile crept across her face, as she could feel clearly across their link just how deep into 'thinking mode' Harry already was.

That was one thing she admitted to herself that she liked about Harry. It is said that some people are 'thinkers' and that others are 'doers', but she found Harry to be a happy medium between the two. True, he sometimes thought too much about something, and his 'strategies' could be rather outrageous at times, but he always had a goal in mind when he tried to accomplish something, and come hell or high water, he would find a solution.

Reinforce's cheeks reddened as she thought of Harry's attractive qualities. Since Harry's birthday, when she, Isis, and Harry had decided to try and work out a relationship together, things hadn't actually changed all that much honestly. Yes, they went on what could be considered 'dates', a few times to see a movie, walk along a beach, go shopping, or something equally mundane that couples were expected to do.

That didn't feel right though. It was something that couples were expected to do, and while they were at least somewhat enjoyable, it wasn't things like that which Reinforce desired. Right now, simply watching Harry as he lost himself in designing something, seemed far better than any of those dates the two had been on.

Reinforce's thoughts turned to Isis, and how this was actually a _three_ person relationship. The unicorn familiar and Reinforce had spent some time in each other's company without Harry, as if this relationship was to work, _everyone_ needed to commit to it.

Things had been very awkward at first, especially for Reinforce, but also for Isis. The equine's loud and outgoing nature was Reinforce's complete opposite, so it had been difficult finding common ground, aside from Harry of course. Without question they respected each other, Reinforce for Isis' healing skills, powerful barriers, and confidence, and Isis for Rein's immense reserves of power, the incredible spells she could cast, as well as her ability to calm down arguments and cool tempers.

The first 'date' between Isis and Reinforce that they had both enjoyed had been, of all things, bowling. After that, they found several activities they could both appreciate, such as pool, swimming, cycling, and a few movies that they could agree on.

In all honesty, she still wasn't sure what to think of a polygamous relationship, and she dreaded to think how much more difficult it would be if their relationship grew to include others. That would be even more difficult given that there would already be bonds established that would make things awkward for the new person.

Reinforce's eyes once again slid to Bast. How would she cope if the cat-girl wanted a piece of Harry? Hell, what if Loki somehow got added into this thing, or even both of them? They would live as long as Harry and herself would, what with being bound to them as they were, so how would their relationships and dynamics change and develop decades from now, or even centuries?

Loki was already setting himself up as a flirtatious playboy. Was that a natural part of his character? Was it a defence mechanism due to knowing, or at least suspecting, how difficult it would be for him to form and develop relationships with, and she didn't like using this word, 'mortals'? Could it even be a hybrid of the two?

Bast was the quiet, stoic one of the group. She had established herself as their only front-line style fighter, though she had quite a way to go to learn enough and be effective enough to really pull it off. Still, no matter how blank a mask someone wears, there's still a person beneath that. Did Bast have feelings for Harry? Isis? Loki? Herself? Did she, or would she, like someone outside of their group? If so, how would she handle it, and how hard would it be on her?

Reinforce kept her inner thoughts to herself as much as she could, not wanting them to spill over to Harry, but that didn't stop her from thinking about things.

xxxxx

Elsewhere in the castle, inside the Chamber of Secrets in fact, Loki was putting Isis through her paces.

WHACK!

Isis held back a whimper of pain as the flat side of Loki's device hit her ribs. Her body _hurt_, she was covered in bruises, and every movement made her entire body ache.

She could really do with a Harry break right then.

"You're device is a staff, it has range. Use it!" Loki barked at the equine familiar. "And don't stand still! Keep moving, make me actually have to try and hit you. Failing that, have a shield spell read to take the hit for you, you're a healer and _barrier_ specialist, aren't you?"

"I can't call up a shield fast enough!" Isis retorted, though it was more like a whine.

"Then get faster." Loki told her. "I did, Harry did, and so can you. You've neglected combat practise so you're behind us. Now, make up the difference, push yourself hard, because we're not going to slack off waiting for you."

Isis swallowed the acidic comment that was on her tongue, she knew that Loki was right, even if he was being a dick about it.

Loki could read her easily though, the look in her eye was enough to convey what she wanted to say.

"Think of this as motivation." Loki snapped at her. "If you don't get better, you get hurt. It's how me and Harry fight, and you asked to go through the same thing. You want to be stronger, for Harry. You want to be better, for Harry. You want to be more capable, for HARRY!"

"I know!" Isis couldn't stop herself yelling back at the raven familiar. "I know, dammit! I'm the weakest combatant on the team! It's my job, as the medic, to keep people going, but what good is that going to be if I'm the first one taken out! I am weak!"

Loki could have responded in many ways. He could have told her that she wasn't weak, comforting her. He could have harshly criticized her, telling her – correctly – that she would be stronger if she trained more. He could have done many things, but in the end, he chose to remain silent.

Loki agreed with her, she was weak, and Loki _would not_ have that weakness become something that one of Harry's enemies could exploit. At least she had been the one to ask him for help getting stronger, goodness knows how difficult she would have been if he'd been the driving force behind it.

Isis gritted her teeth together, before putting her long, slender, and currently very bruised legs underneath herself. She launched herself straight at Loki, who casually went to block her telegraphed attack, but before she landed the blow, she twisted herself to the side, and kicked off from the ground to attack Loki from a slightly different angle.

Her staff managed to slide past the surprised Loki's guard and strike his shoulder. Whether accidentally or on purpose, Isis actually managed to strike a nerve cluster, causing Loki's hand and arm to spasm, dropping the blade he held in that hand, which she immediately kicked away from him.

Unfortunately for Isis, though, Loki's device was capable of splitting into two blades, which it currently was, the second of which was held in his other hand. It was brought down on Isis when Loki regained his awareness after being surprised, and he pivoted on one foot, striking at the unicorn's overextended arm.

Isis managed to not cry out in pain at the hit, though there were tears in her eyes.

"Enough for now." Loki said. "I'm both surprised and impressed that you managed to at least partially disarm me, even if I wasn't giving you my full attention. That's good, you should take advantage of any opening or opportunity you can. There's nothing 'fair' about any fight, all that matters is that we come out alive afterwards, so fight dirty."

Isis didn't reply except to nod her head, before she began to heal her injuries. She didn't want Harry to see her like this, bruised and battered, so regardless of any 'fantasies' she may have about him rubbing creams into her naked body, she'd handle this herself.

As she healed herself up, Isis glanced towards Loki, her brow furrowing in thought. As much as he put on an act of a somewhat lecherous, easygoing guy, and that act was actually part of his personality, she had known that he had a harder side to him, a vicious ruthlessness and cold apathy that only rarely made itself known.

That was one of the reasons she'd specifically asked Loki to help train her.

Oh, she knew that power-wise, both Reinforce and Harry were leagues beyond Loki, but neither of them would have been as effective as Loki, for that was what Loki was, effective, efficient. His methods might seem cruel, and they certainly felt that way, but Isis _knew_ that he would get the best results possible out of her.

Isis got to her feet, wincing slightly as she felt phantom pains from her recent injuries wrack her body. She then began to walk, her first few steps slightly shaky, before she managed to pull herself together and at least look relatively intact and whole.

Loki waited for her silently, and when she was finally ready to go, he was the one to cast the Dimensional Transfer spell that teleported them to an empty classroom in the school above. They both exited the room and began to head towards Ravenclaw tower.

Along the way, as was usual, both of them got appreciative looks from the students. Loki was stared at because of his fine features and tasteful attire, and Isis gained many looks due to her impressive figure, beauty, and rather skimpy clothing. They both, however, ignored these looks completely.

At least, Isis ignored the lustful looks directed at her. Loki made a mental note of who was giving them what sort of looks. Like Isis, he mostly ignored the ones looking at them with desire. He did, however, make sure he remembered who was giving them more baleful looks or glares, and which had a curious or calculating look about them.

The two familiars made their way rapidly through the castle, though they didn't hurry. It didn't take them long to arrive at the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room, answer a riddle, and then approach the Head Boy's suite. However, surprisingly enough, someone stopped them before they reached Harry.

Loki looked at the boy stood in front of him, a fifth year by the look of him. Loki didn't know his name off the top of his head, so it wasn't likely that he was a pureblood or half-blood, as the raven familiar had made sure to memorise all of those with important family members, which was actually a lot easier in the wizarding world than the muggle one.

"Yes?" He asked, looking curiously at the boy.

"Eh... well, I was just hoping you could answer some questions for me." The kid stumbled over his words, quite obviously nervous. "You see, there's some weird rumours going around, and... and I've been meaning to ask since you two turned up two years ago... well, what are you?"

"I'm a familiar." Loki told him. "A wizard can create a familiar bond with any other being, but it takes a powerful wizard to bond with a more powerful creature or plant. Sometimes these bonds are formed accidentally, with favoured pets or the like. Sometimes these bonds are formed purposefully, with the wizard gaining a companion and the familiar receiving several minor abilities, such as increased intelligence, an extended lifespan, or even small magical things for the really powerful wizards."

Isis decided to add on to what Loki was saying, which was essentially the definition of a _Terran_ familiar, not a Mid-Childan style one. "Harry is massively powerful, ridiculously so, and its likely that this caused us to... mutate?... a little more than was expected. Also, when Harry was trying to save my life, he was pushing nearly all of his mana into me, and all of that power is going to do _something_, sooo this happened, I guess."

"Is Potter really that powerful?" Someone else in the room asked sceptically.

Isis nodded. "Ask Flitwick or someone if they have a Merlin Orb you can borrow some time, that'll tell you exactly how powerful someone is. Now, if you'll excuse us?"

The boy stood aside and let Isis and Loki past and into the Head Boy suite.

As the door shut behind them, they heard a murmur of voices behind them begin to ask each other questions, from something as simple as 'what is a Merlin Orb?' to other's like 'I wonder how much power it really takes to make a familiar like them, or is there a spell that's more efficient?', to ones such as 'I wonder what I should have for breakfast tomorrow?'

Isis and Loki stopped listening when the door shut, both of them wanting to see Harry and the others.

It was only the first day back, but they had a lot to plan and prepare for. Not to mention they were all worried about the upcoming Wizengamot session on Sunday.

It was only three days away, and whatever happened there would have a big impact on their choices and actions.


	13. First Day of Lessons

AN: Sorry for the delay, I've had real life things to do. However, the chapter is here (yay!), and I hope you guys like it. Unfortunately, I didn't get around to the Wizengamot meeting, but that will definitely be in the next chapter, if not the focus of it, so don't think things are going too slowly! I would, of course, love any advice you guys could give me for how I should do things, any niggling details that I should add in, or any things that I should avoid, you know, stuff like that.

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 13 – First Day of Lessons

The next day, as was usual, Loki and Harry got up incredibly early. What wasn't as usual was Isis getting up then too, though she didn't do it with half the grace the two males did, yawning and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, stumbling about the place as she had yet to properly wake up.

Harry watched silently as his first two familiars prepared themselves for the day and left the room, his mind quickly going over everything he'd noticed. From the way Loki held himself, to the way his hand strayed to Fenrir, his device, in its standby form, it was quite easy to tell that the two were going to be sparring.

_~I thought that Isis wasn't really fond of sparring too often, what's gotten into her?~_ Harry mentally asked Reinforce.

_~She's probably worried about everything that's going on. She might normally avoid fighting, but when it comes to you, she is quite... motivated.~_ Reinforce replied to him.

"Ain't that the truth." Harry muttered, before checking the time once more. "Still, breakfast won't be for another two hours, what should I do until then?"

_~ Are you done with designing your newest golem?~_ Reinforce asked. _~I know you want to let Septima and Beth have a look beforehand, it is rather magically... strange after all, so you can do that at lunch. There's nothing stopping you from creating your other Siegfried golems though, is there?~_

"I suppose not." Harry agreed, thinking things over. He could create three more Siegfried style golems pretty easily, and quickly too. His experience with golem creation had improved both the speed with which he could create them, as well as the quality, most especially due to a better understanding of them.

Heck, he'd already made several minor alterations to some of them to improve them. The Beelzebub wasps had been made more aerodynamic, and the spell-work on them improved to increase their speed slightly, as well as their manoeuvrability. The reloading mechanism on Dante the cannon had been made more efficient for a faster rate of fire, the barrel had been enchanted to increase the velocity of the projectiles, and he'd even been able to improve the aim slightly.

Vritra the serpent, however, was simultaneously the easiest and hardest golem to improve. It was easy in the sense the organic materials it was crafted from, the basilisk's skeleton, had absorbed the spells and enchantments with ease. It was difficult because it reacted differently to enchantments compared to metal, stone, and earth, making it more finicky to get right.

"Hm?" Harry, feeling a tug on his shirt, turned to see a sleepy Bast blinking herself awake. It seemed that she was joining them in being up early, or maybe they'd accidentally woken her up, one of the two. "Was there something you wanted, Bast?"

"Spar." She mumbled sleepily. "With you."

"You want to spar with me?" Harry asked, earning himself a dry look from Bast, or as much of a one as she could give him through her yawn.

"Loki and Isis are busy, I'll be your opponent today." She told him.

"Sure thing then." Harry agreed. "I'll give you a few minutes to wake up and get ready first though."

Bast nodded, before shuffling off to get herself sorted, leaving Harry to waste a little time. He chose to spend the few minutes he had trying to wiggle his Occlumency to work with his magic clones better, but that was going to take a while to properly sort out.

On the other hand, it seemed to be working so far!

xxxxx

Lily Potter had not had the best night's sleep ever, she hadn't for a while now.

It should come as no surprise then that she'd become something of an early riser recently. It was far better to be up and doing something than simply lying in bed, because then her mind might be distracted by something other than the current situation that she and her family were in.

She was down in the Great Hall for breakfast before the house elves had even gotten it ready, though only by ten minutes or so.

Like before, she sat at the staff table, as she was a guest of the headmaster. She wasn't alone in the hall though, there were a few ghosts scattered around, and two members of staff seemed to be early risers as well. Aurora Sinistra, the astronomy professor, actually looked like she hadn't gone to sleep yet. Flitwick was also awake, and Severus soon entered the Great Hall too.

Lily bit her lip as she saw Severus falter slightly in his steps – it was almost unnoticeable, but Lily _had_ been Severus' best friend, his only friend actually – before the man got to the staff table. He did not look at her, at least she didn't see him looking, and his face was completely blank of any expression.

She wondered if she should approach him. Before... _that incident_, the two had been close, very close in fact, but afterwards their friendship had been torn in two, and Lily regretted how harsh she had been with him. True, mudblood was a highly offensive insult, but she had overreacted to it. Severus _had_ just been the victim of the Marauders' attention after all, and he had probably spoken without thinking.

How different would things have been if she had not reacted as badly as she had? What if, after arguing, shouting, and yelling at each other for a few weeks, they had made up? For one, James and Sirius would probably have continued to target him as they had always done with their pranks, which had actually eased up a bit after her falling out with him.

Lily was distracted as two more people came through the doors into the Great Hall. This time it was... Harry, and one of those strange familiars of his, the cat girl. She couldn't remember their names off the top of her head, but that wasn't her primary concern right then.

She wasn't thinking about how 'Harry' was supposed to be possessed by the Dark Lord Voldemort either, or how Harry really should be dead and not wandering around anywhere. No what really caught her attention was how they were leaning against each other and limping slightly. The content expressions on their faces just made everything more surreal, especially with how dishevelled they looked.

Flitwick chuckled slightly as he saw the two himself. It wasn't exactly a massive secret that Harry and his familiars tended to train early in the morning or later in the evening most days. It was usually Harry and Loki however, rather than him and Bast. An indrawn breath further along the staff table drew his attention away from the two, and he turned to see Lily Potter sat with her mouth hanging open and her face red with... embarrassment?

"Is there a problem, Miss Potter?" He asked neutrally.

"A p-problem?" Lily stuttered. "Can't you see those two?"

"I can, is there an issue?" Flitwick wondered what it was that the woman was so shocked about.

"I should think so." Lily responded. "Doing something like... like _that_, and being so blatant about it. He's far too young for that sort thing."

Flitwick was at a loss as to what Lily was talking about for a few moments. He then realised that, without knowing what they _had_ been up to, what it could look like to someone else. He couldn't help but laugh at that honestly. The Potters had cast Harry out of their family, and his 'mother' was concerned about him having sex?

"They weren't being intimate, Miss Potter." Flitwick told her. "Mr Ritter and his familiars have a habit of waking early in the morning and doing muggle exercise and sparring. It's not exactly a secret, though you aren't the first to think he's been doing _other_ things."

Flitwick answered a few more questions that Lily Potter asked, his mind on other things. Primarily, he was thinking of his students who'd asked about a Merlin Orb, a device that measured one's capacity for mana, and if he had one they could use.

He wondered if Harry was the cause of their curiosity.

xxxxx

Harry saw Bast's ears flick and her eyes narrow slightly, both signs that she had heard something that annoyed her. Of course, not having hearing as good as his feline familiar – or his equine one either – Harry didn't know what it was that had irritated her, and gave Bast a curious look.

Seeing his expression, Bast let him know what the red-haired woman had assumed they'd been up to, also adding in how... blank and flat Flitwick's own words had been. It was that latter point that Harry found intriguing, as he knew Lily Potter had been a favourite of Flitwick's when she'd been a student.

Harry was aware that, if it came down to him versus the Potters, both Sep and Beth would be on his side of things. He also knew that Mcgonagall had a massive soft spot for James Potter, and a smaller one for Lily Evans, now Potter, too. He wondered where the other staff members of the school would fall.

Harry sighed. "Never mind her for now, let's just eat and get to lessons. Are you going to remain like that or take your animal form while you accompany me today?"

Bast seemed to consider it for a moment, before deciding on a response. "Like this, easier to respond if you're threatened, greater reach too."

Harry nodded, accepting her reasoning. He knew all of his familiars were ridiculously protective of him, like they thought he was made out of glass or something, and would shatter if they looked the other way. He'd managed before he'd had them, dammit, he was _not_ fragile!

It was perhaps the only thing about them that he found aggravating.

"What lessons do you have today?" Harry glanced sideways as Fate slid down to sit next to him, on the opposite side of him to Bast, and asked her question.

"I've got Potions, Runes, and Transfiguration. You'll be in my first and last classes, but instead of Runes, you'll have... what were your electives again?" Harry paused, having forgotten what Fate had chosen to study as her optional courses.

"We all chose Arithmancy, and I also picked Divination and Care of Magical Creatures. I have Divination today." Fate answered him. "Do you know where the Divination classroom is? I don't remembering you showing us it yesterday when you were showing us around."

"The... North tower, isn't it?" Harry thought about it for a moment. "I don't think I've ever actually been there, there's simply nothing there worth going up all of those stairs for aside from the Divination classroom itself." Harry glanced around, before beckoning Helena over, the ghost looking curious as she drifted their way.

"Helena, can you guide Fate here to Divination later, please?" Harry asked her politely. "I have Runes then, and the two classrooms are nowhere near each other."

"Sure, I can." Helena agreed. "However, in return, I want you to agree to allow me to follow you when outside of Hogwarts."

"Weren't you already stalking me?" Harry blandly replied.

"Yes, but now I'll be doing it openly, deal?" Harry nodded his agreement. "I've already learned everything I'm ever likely to in this castle, I want to know more, to see more, to _experience_ more." Helena's eyes shone with almost predatory hunger, despite her incorporeal state, and Harry had to suppress a shudder at the sight of it.

Harry turned back to Fate. "If you need me at all, you can contact me with telepathy. If you need to find me, I'll be spending my free periods in the infirmary, and my evenings in that old classroom I showed you yesterday, the one where we hold those 'study sessions'. If you need Loki or Isis, they're spending the day sparring in the Chamber of Secrets, and you'll need a parselmouth to get in there, me in other words."

"I'll let the others know." Fate said.

"If that's what you want to do." Harry agreed, before returning to his breakfast.

xxxxx

Severus Snape stood silently in front of his class, his eyes sweeping over the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff third years. This year he would finally be able to move on beyond the most basic of basic potion skills. Granted, third to fifth year potions were only of intermediate level, but it was better than the mind-numbingly boring things brewed in the two previous years.

He almost paused as his gaze fell on four particular students. The blonde Ravenclaw with red eyes, Harlaown, was partnered with the cheerful-looking Hufflepuff, Takamachi, while the other new Hufflepuff, Yagami, was paired up with Pott- no, his name was Ritter now.

Ritter felt Snape's eyes pause on him, and matched the older male's gaze with his own mismatched eyes. Snape knew Legilimency wasn't going to work on the boy, but that didn't stop him wondering what hid behind the Ravenclaw's impassive orbs.

"You have returned for a third year at Hogwarts, and I'm sure many of you are... excited to start your electives. However, do not let the novelty of these new lessons distract you while in _my_ classroom." Snape spoke to his class. "Your first two years got you acclimatised to common ingredients and potions, and I refuse to hold your hand one step further. This year we will delve deeper into the intricacies of potions, exploring some of the more uncommon ingredients that can be used, and brewing some of the more volatile mixtures that can be brewed. You have... _survived_ so far, let's see if any of you idiots are capable of killing yourselves off _this_ year."

Snape flicked his wand. "The instructions are on the board. If you are even _slightly_ competent, you will have the potion finished no later than five minutes before the end of this double period. Begin, and _try_ not to mess it up." He snapped at them.

Snape let his attention slide back to the four he was observing before. Ritter already had that book of his open, likely checking if the instructions Snape had given them matched up with what was recorded in there. He almost raised an eyebrow at the other three, all of the new transfers were copying the instructions down into notebooks instead of immediately fetching ingredients like the rest of the class was.

Perhaps there was _some_ hope for them.

xxxxx

Once potions had finished, Harry stored his spare potion away in his 'potion box', an simple expanded box with a few charms on it to prevent any jostling of the box affecting the potions he'd stored inside of it under preservation charms. Snape had only required one vial of potion for marking after all, and Harry saw no reason to waste the rest of it.

Fate, Nanoha, and Hayate had copied him, filling several vials each with the general antidote for uncommon poisons. A useful potion, but one they hoped they'd never need to use. Harry promised to make them each a box like his later, though he'd probably put at least a few doses each of the more advanced medical potions he could brew in there as well.

It was with this in mind that he set off to the hospital wing. He doubted that anyone had really gotten injured yet, though that would change in a few days. Once everyone got settled into the castle, there would inevitably be 'skirmishes' between groups of students, usually Gryffindor and Slytherin, and he and Madam Pomfrey would have to deal with them.

When he arrived, he found Madam Pomfrey behind her desk, going through what appeared to be a check-list and muttering something under her breath. She looked up when Harry entered, noting that it was Bast, and Bast alone, who followed him in, and not Isis.

"The unicorn not joining you today?" Poppy asked conversationally.

"She's currently focusing on more... combative magic at present, rather than healing spells and potions." Harry replied with a shrug. "Bast is following me around to, in Loki's words, 'drag me out of whatever trouble I will end up in'."

"I'm not surprised." Poppy huffed. "She'll be worried about you, especially with your tendency to wander where you're not supposed to go, and poke your nose into anything that catches your eye."

"I'm not _that_ bad, am I?" Harry muttered.

Poppy rolled her eyes. "Your ability to find trouble is only matched by your ability to get out of it." She told him. "Now, I've already checked over the potion cabinet, and nothing needs replacing right now, but we're running a little low on some of the common ones. If you could start on a batch of the standard grade two stuff, that should do for now."

"Grade two?" Harry quickly recalled what that was. "So wound cleansing, flesh-knitting, painkiller, and general antidotes then." Grade one was the simple stuff, used for cuts, minor burns, and the like. Grade two was a step above that, and Grade three was things like skele-gro, blood replenishing, more potent antidotes, and the most powerful stuff that could be legally stocked in the Hogwarts infirmary. Grade four was specialist stuff.

"You don't mind if I brew a few potions myself, Poppy?" He asked, heading towards her office, where the cauldrons were probably already set up.

"If you've got the ingredients on you, go right ahead." She replied, not looking up. "I also have a handful of new diagnostic and treatment spells for you as well. I'll add them to your tome in just a minute, and you can practise on some of the analogues I'll set up for you some time next week."

"Understood." Harry agreed, before starting to brew the batch of potions he'd been tasked with, and the others he was making for the Uminari group.

Once they were bubbling away, he opened the window and summoned a thick branch from the direction of the Forbidden Forest. Using a cutting curse to get three chunks of wood, roughly the size of a pocket jewellery box. After a moment's thought, he cut one more that was the size of a small toolbox.

He began shaping the wood into boxes, the three small ones for Hayate, Fate, and Nanoha, to hold some emergency potions and other medical supplies if the ever got hurt, and one for Shamal, as Harry knew she would love such a thing, and as she wasn't much of an active combatant, it didn't need to be as small and unobtrusive as the others.

xxxxx

Once his 'free' period was over, Harry left a quickly created ice golem – created from tap water - to watch over the potions until they were finished while he headed off to his single period of Runes. While walking through the corridors, he ignored the whispers and pointing he got from other students, though Bast did glare at some of them, he was simply too focused on other things to really pay them much attention.

When he arrived at the Runes classroom and went in, he found that his classmates were giving him curious looks. Not outright hostile ones, not that he'd expected any, as he liked to think he'd 'bonded' somewhat with this particular class. He'd originally stood out the previous year, being only a second year in a third year class, but they'd gotten past that, and as the entire class was rather like-minded and focused on the subject, they'd all... sort of come together really.

The lesson turned out fairly well all told. They didn't do anything practical, Beth having given them a small quiz on stuff they'd covered the previous year to make sure no one had forgotten anything, before going over what they were going to be doing this year, what was expected of them, and what they might want to look up beforehand.

Once the lesson was over, only Harry and the Professor didn't get up to head to lunch. That was nothing new though, everyone in the class was aware that Harry usually took meals in the classroom with the Runes and Arithmancy professors. Thankfully, that wasn't something that had spilled out into the rest of the school, goodness knows what the rumour mill would do with that.

"Are Loki and Isis not joining us?" Beth asked, after greeting Bast and Harry more familiarly once the last student had left the room.

"They've been sparring since early this morning, and I don't think they're going to stop until tonight." Harry sighed, explaining their absence once again. "I know Loki took a large basket of food with them, so they're not going to suffer from a missed meal at least."

"And Reinforce?" Septima added curiously. Both professors having been made aware of how Reinforce was always with him over the summer, as well as a few things regarding 'other' places, though they didn't know _everything_ about the likes of the TSAB and administrated worlds. Perhaps someday they would though.

"She doesn't want to risk discovery, _at all_. She does say 'thanks for the thought' though." Harry replied. "Now, I've got something I was hoping you two would take a look at, my newest golem design actually." He said, placing the paper on the table and unrolling it for them to examine.

"A _spell-caster_ type?" Sep asked in surprise. "You do know it's considered a joke, don't you? You know, 'we're no closer to such and such than we are self-spelling wands?' and all that." She traced a part of the diagram. "Still, I can see how you're trying to do this. A jewel 'core' in the torso of the golem to store mana, and pathways connecting that mana source to the palms of the golems' hands."

Beth nodded. "The numerous rune arrays on their hands, one per spell, is a rather crude way of pulling it off though, however it would probably be rather effective." She paused. "I have another idea, if you're willing to listen to it?"

"Of course." Harry agreed easily. "You two are the experts."

"Right then." Beth drew her wand and conjured two thin wooden discs. She then pulled out a pencil and drew marks on the two, dividing each disc into eights. She then scribbled a single word or two into each section, before using a piercing hex to put a hole in the middle of both discs and then poking a conjured bit of dowel rod into them. "There, can you see my solution now?" She asked as she handed the completed model to Harry, grinning at him as she did so.

Harry took a look at one disc, more specifically what Beth had scribbled in the sections. There words there were 'water', 'earth', 'air', 'fire', 'lightning', 'ice', 'force/mana', and 'light/dark'. The other disc had different words on it; 'shield', 'chain', 'orb', 'stream', 'whip', 'blade', 'javelin', and 'trap'.

Harry span the two discs around the dowel for a moment, realising what Beth's idea was. If he had a magical 'pathway' go through the two discs, then the 'spell' that came out of the other end would depend on the two discs it went through. You could have a shield of ice, a stream of fire, an orb of light, a lightning whip, or any combination of attribute and effect.

"That's absolutely genius." Harry couldn't help but tell Beth, whose eyes gleamed with pride at that comment.

"It simplifies things, doesn't it?" She smugly commented. "Instead of an array for each and every spell, you only need to make complementary ones, and considering the natural overlap between form and type, that should be fairly easy."

"It's also small enough that I could put one, say, in each wrist or forearm, letting my golem cast two different 'spells' at once, something that I'd imagine wouldn't exactly be expected and would throw someone off quite a bit." Harry added.

"Glad to be of help." Beth smiled.

"It's greatly appreciated." Harry responded. "I admit, I wasn't looking forward to etching that many arrays into them, especially with how small I'd have to make them, and also because I'm planning on making seven of them."

"A strong magical number is seven." Septima nodded. "It's considered _the_ magical number, seeing how zero is difficult to work with in most circumstances."

Harry made a noise of agreement, already making notes on how to incorporate Beth's idea into his golem's form, and how to craft and assemble it most easily. This golem was the one with the most separate pieces that needed putting together after all, which added an extra level of difficulty and complication to it. He thought it would be worth it though.

Beth's eyes slid to the mostly silent cat familiar. "So, how have things been so far? You've spent an entire day in the castle with the Potters, and as far as I know, no fight has broken out yet."

"We haven't come across the adults." Bast was the one to answer her. "The children seem reasonable and willing to listen, though they are rather nervous." She frowned for a moment. "The only thing close to interaction we've had with the adults so far is hearing the woman's words this morning. Seeing our state of disarray after our spar, she assumed we'd been engaging in sexual intercourse."

Septima seemed to think about that for a moment. "Yeah, I can see how she would think that. You and Isis are both _very_ close to Harry, and while you're rather quiet, Isis is rather vocal about her desires. Seeing you turn up dishevelled really wouldn't make it look any better, especially with teenage hormones starting to muddle things up."

"Yeah, and magical puberty can either be the most blissful and gentle thing ever, or it can be rather... unpleasant." Beth grimaced. "If you think muggle teenagers are bad with their mood swings, tempers, and all of that, a witch or wizard can be many times worse, especially the powerful ones. They sometimes suffer accidental magic well into their teen years, and it tends to be far more volatile and vicious because of it."

"Was that a warning or..." Harry trailed off, not sure how to finish his question.

"Just something to keep in mind." Beth assured him.

Harry mentally filed it away, intending to look up magical puberty later, and changed the topic. The four of them, with occasional input from Reinforce, spent a pleasant lunch break chatting together.

xxxxx

Brian reflected on his day as he headed to Transfiguration, a class he shared with Ravenclaw according to his timetable. Getting down to the Great Hall for breakfast hadn't been too difficult, as apart from Harry showing him around the previous day, he could also follow the rest of his house down there, though Gryffindor students didn't seem to be early risers for the most part.

At breakfast, he'd eaten at the Gryffindor table, but he'd looked across at the others as well. The quietest table had been the Slytherin one, most of the students there either simply eating or conversing in low voices. The Ravenclaw table was the next quietest, and he'd seen Harry and Fate sat together. The Hufflepuff table wasn't loud, as such, but their was a cheerful feel about them, and they looked to be chatting happily, catching up with each other.

The Gryffindors, when they got to the table were... loud. They called up and down the table to each other, laughed uproariously, and yet they all seemed to revel in it. There were small pockets where people weren't being so loud, like a girl with bushy brown hair that was eating with one hand, not taking her eyes off the book she held in the other hand. There was also three girls, older than him, who were chatting with each other happily.

After he'd eaten, Brian had headed off to his first class of the day, Herbology. He'd rather enjoyed the lesson actually, Professor Sprout was an advocate of practical teaching over theory, and so while she demonstrated what he was going to have them do that lesson, she gave a quick lecture of all the important points. She'd then set them off to practising on the plants themselves.

Once Herbology was over with, Brian headed off to Potions with the Slytherins. That had been... unpleasant, to say the least. All of the Gryffindors seemed to hate the professor, and he seemed to 'strongly dislike' them as well. His father had talked about 'Snivellus', and told Brian that if he ever gave him trouble to remind him that he owed James, though why he owed him something, his father never said.

Thankfully, Brian hadn't messed up his potion, and so the professor had nothing to pounce on. It was still an uncomfortable lesson with the intimidating man hovering over them all, and he was glad to get out of the classroom as fast as he could, and headed off to library to look some things up, as Snape had already given them homework to complete.

He spent an hour there, before heading off to lunch. He looked around the Great Hall, before taking a seat next to his sister and asking her how her lessons had gone so far that day. Apparently she'd had Defence Against the Dark Arts and Herbology so far, with Charms that afternoon.

The two of them had wondered where Harry was, as they couldn't see him in the Great Hall, and he didn't turn up at all through the lunch hour. They asked one of the nearby Gryffindors about it, one of those that weren't going gaga over the two of them. The boy, Neville Longbottom by name, told them that Harry sometimes spent his lunch breaks in the hospital wing, and when he wasn't there, he still didn't have his lunch in the Great Hall, but where he actually was, Neville didn't know.

Brian found that weird, as it seemed everyone took all of their meals in the Great Hall. He could understand the school healer staying in the hospital wing, and he supposed if Harry helped her out he would stay too sometimes, but where else did he go when he wasn't there? Did he go to the kitchens or something?

Rose just gave him on odd look when he mentioned that idea. She asked her brother if he was becoming obsessed with Harry, and Brian had the uncomfortable feeling that he was. He just couldn't shake the thought that it could so easily have been him in Harry's place, and how he would feel with all of this going on.

His sister had just given him a bit of a grin when he told her that. She agreed with him that everything was messed up, but she didn't really see anything they could do about it. Brian was only thirteen, and she was only eleven, there really wasn't much of anything they _could_ do.

It was with these thoughts in mind that he headed to Transfiguration with Neville, joining up with the others who were waiting outside the classroom door. He saw Harry leaning against the wall with an open book in his hands, his cat-girl beside him, and decided to approach his twin again.

xxxxx

Harry looked up when he felt Bast shift beside him.

"Hello." Brian greeted him, which Harry returned. "Do you have any idea what we'll be learning in Transfiguration this year?"

Harry thought about it for a moment, before replying. "The first two years we learned spells that would get us familiar with using our magic a certain way. The most simple transfiguration is inanimate to inanimate, but even first years move onto animate to inanimate, which is continued in second year. I think we'll be doing some of that, along with edging into more general inanimate into animate. None of it should be too difficult, and Mcgonagall is a good teacher, she knows what she's doing."

"Thanks." Brian grinned at Harry. "What are you reading, if you don't mind me asking?"

"This?" Harry indicated the book in his hands, his Tome of Shadows. "Right now I'm looking up a few things on wand lore and magical theory, it's to do with an independent project of mine that I'm working on. It's not important. Are you settling down well into Hogwarts?"

"It feels weird, but I guess I'm just getting used to how things are done here." Brian replied. "I mean, back in Canada, we went to a day school and came home every afternoon. Mum and Dad used to help me with my homework, and it was just so different. We had this really old guy teaching us transfiguration, and he was constantly coughing and wheezing, we thought he was going to keel over any minute."

"Sounds interesting." Harry commented. "Right now though, it looks like it's time for lesson." He pointed behind Brian, where the transfiguration classroom door was now open.

Brian hurried into the classroom, while Harry and Bast followed at a more sedate pace, both pausing in the doorway as they saw someone they didn't expect to see there. James Potter was stood beside professor Mcgonagall, gracing the room with a broad, friendly grin.

_~I'm not seeing things, am I, Rein?~_ Harry couldn't help but ask.

_~No, he's really there, Harry, be careful.~_ Reinforce warned him.

Harry took a seat with Bast at his side, warily eyeing James Potter as he did so, but when Mcgonagall began speaking, he gave her his attention.

"You have all managed to pass your second year exams, and many of you with good grades." Mcgonagall spoke to her class, much like Snape had done earlier, but with less invective than the potions master. "Let's try and keep those grades high, shall we? Regardless, this year we will further your knowledge and skill with transfiguration, and eventually, some of you may be able to accomplish something like this."

With that, Mcgonagall shifted into her animagus form of a cat, before shifting back into a human to polite applause. "Thank you, now can anyone tell me the difference between an animagus transformation and transfiguring yourself or others into animals?"

She looked around the room, before choosing Harry, who had not actually had his hand up. He answered anyway though.

"An animagus transformation is a purely internal magic, physically reshaping the body to match the animal you have the greatest compatibility with when you first begin to attempt the transformation. No wand is required, and it is considered to be one of the most difficult branches of transfiguration." Harry told her.

"Turning someone into an animal, however, is an external magic. It requires quite a bit of power and will, as you must force the body to take on a shape not natural to it. It's also common for those who have been transfigured to be overwhelmed by the instincts of their animal form, and few can maintain their own minds in such a state, unlike the animagus transformation, where one is fully cognizant. This type of transformation is cast with a wand, and while it can be difficult, it is far easier to accomplish than an animagus transformation." He finished.

"A thorough and completely correct answer, Mr Pott- Ritter, take ten points for Ravenclaw." She then addressed the class in general. "Now, I don't expect you to learn to become animagi this year, that was just an example of what you might be able to do some day, as well as an example of the sort of question that often turns up in an OWL exam, so it's best to be aware of it at least."

"Now, if someone could come up here and collect the animal you will be practising transfiguration on today?" She asked, indicating a cage filled with turtles. "We will be attempting to turn these turtles into teapots. We will also be doing the same with tortoises another day. The differences between the two should help you pick up on some of the subtler aspects of transfiguration and make your own spells more efficient."

Once the turtles had been placed on the desks in front of the students, Mcgonagall spoke up again. "Now, if you are having any difficulties, don't hesitate to ask for help. Both myself and Mr. Potter here are available to assist you, as he and his wife have graciously offered assistance in their specialities. You should see Mrs. Potter in your charms lessons."

Harry narrowed his eyes at that. Was that something the Potters had decided to do themselves, or was Dumbledore behind it? Either way, it was a very intelligent and crafty move on their part. As they were only guests, they had no obligation to help, but were doing so anyway, yet they retained a lot of freedom of movement and were able to leave the castle whenever they wanted.

Harry let Bast focus on James Potter, but she did so out of the corner of her eye, while Harry got on with the lesson, breaking down the transfiguration and comparing it to alchemy, another subject that dealt with physical transformations, albeit in a different manner.

In alchemy, there were three stages; Analysis, Deconstruction, and Reconstruction. The first stage let you know what you had to work with, and in what quantities. The second stage took the material(s) apart. The third stage recombined them in the desired manner. In alchemy, you could only get out what you put in, much like muggle chemistry.

In transfiguration, you could gain or lose matter with the transformation, and unlike alchemy, the transformation would reverse when conditions were met. Usually, those conditions were along the lines of 'running out of mana to sustain the transformation' or the subject dying. An animagus, when killed, for example, will return to human form.

Transfiguration worked by placing an 'image' of the desired result 'over' the current object and forcing it into that shape. The greater the dissonance between the two, the harder the transformation was, and the easier it was to break. It helped immensely if you knew both the start and end of the transformation, as that reinforced it.

Harry tapped the turtle with his wand, casting a medical diagnostic on it to get a mental picture of its skeletal structure. He copied this several more times with several different diagnostic spells, building up a mental picture bit by bit. He added the muscles, the nervous system, the internal organs, and then the external ones to his mental image.

Harry then called up everything he knew about teapots and the materials they were made of. Deciding that shape would do for now, however, Harry transfigured his turtle into a teapot made of bone. Another tap of his wand and a muttered incantation later, and he had turned the bone teapot into a plain porcelain one, and one final spell gave it a rather nice pattern.

Harry cancelled the spells then, returning the teapot back into a turtle that looked none the worse for wear. He then mentally combined the three stages of transformation into one, shape, material, and design, and cast the spell one more time.

He was quite happy with the result he got, just perfect.

Judging from James Potter's tightly clenched fists though, which Harry could see through a few strands of his hair, it didn't seem like everyone was as happy with his success as he was.


	14. Wizengamot and Letters

AN: I'm _really_ not happy with how the Wizengamot bit turned out, but I also don't know how else to put it. I find that politics and such things are very difficult to write. Mechanics? Easy. Slice of Life? Also easy. Fight Scenes? Eh, sometimes I do well with them. Politics and machinations? No, that's really not my forte. If someone can think up a way to rewrite that bit a lot better than it currently is, then I will dedicate an OC student just for them, and they can even help with creating said character and all of that stuff. Anyway, on with the story!

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 14 – Wizengamot and Letters

Amelia Bones sat in her seat at the Wizengamot, looking over the others present and how they were acting. Only the youngest and most inexperienced of them were easy to read, those who actually knew how to play politics managed to conceal their thoughts better.

However, even then there were a few tells. It didn't help that there was a certain tension building up in the room, a certain feeling of anticipation. It was quite obvious that a lot of this tension centred around where James Potter was sat in his inherited seat, though Amelia was a little surprised with the feeling she was getting.

Obviously, there was a lot of curiosity directed at the raven-haired man, however she wasn't expecting as much wariness as she was sensing. There were also those who had a purposefully neutral air about them that were regarding James Potter, and that confused Amelia somewhat.

She knew that Harry would undoubtedly at least _try_ and feel out some people that might agree with his way of thinking, and she also knew there would be those who disagreed with James himself – either due to their own beliefs and thoughts or simply on principle, and yes, some on the Wizengamot were just that petty – but she wouldn't have thought he'd be as successful as it seemed he had been.

Amelia checked the time once more. The Wizengamot meetings always started at one in the afternoon exactly, and if you weren't in the room by then, you wouldn't be getting in until the next meeting. It was less than two minutes to one right then, and the quiet murmur of conversation wasn't loud enough for Amelia to hear properly, nor where those sat near her people she particularly cared to chatter with.

Her eyes flickered over to a side door, behind which stood four people. There was Peter Pettigrew under guard by two aurors, and Sirius Black too. Amelia wasn't sure what had been done to Pettigrew, though she strongly suspected both Harry and Black had been involved, but when he'd ended up in her hands, he had been... damaged.

The healer who had examined both Pettigrew and Black had told her that the rat animagus' magical core had been both drained and broken in some way she couldn't explain, and she didn't know how one would go about healing such an injury. She had been able to tell Amelia that Pettigrew was now only just above a squib in magical strength, and that he would forever be unable to transform into his animagus self, which actually troubled Amelia quite a bit.

The knowledge that it was possible to damage someone's magic in such a way... if it became known, then panic would ensue. Many muggleborns came into the magical world thinking it would be just like the muggle one but with magic as an extra, while some others thought it would be like a fantasy game or novel. Neither were right.

The magical world, at least the places Amelia had been, _depended_ on magic, and would completely collapse without it.

To think that there was a way to strip someone of their magic, not simply bind it, but actually damage their ability to use magic _ever again_, there'd be riots at the least, and people would be out for blood, seeking to erase such a spell from all records. Amelia could also admit that she found herself... troubled by it.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the doors closed and sealed themselves. Now they could only be opened from the inside, and only when the Wizengamot session was over with.

Dumbledore, in his official robes as Chief Warlock, stood tall and declared the monthly meeting now in session, asking if anyone had anything they would like to bring to their attention. Before Amelia could even open her mouth, James Potter was already on his feet, his strident voice certainly drawing attention to himself.

"Chief Warlock, I have a problem most troubling to bring to the attention of this esteemed body. It is with great regret that I must inform you all, that the body of my second born child is currently being possessed by the dark lord Voldemort!" James declared.

Amelia noted the reactions in the hall, filtering out the flinches and recoiling at the dark lord's false name. Once again, she was about to speak herself, but found someone had once again beaten her to the punch. This time it was... Jacob Aylett? A neutral was actually speaking out? That was unusual.

"_Lord_ Potter." Aylett spoke, putting slight emphasis on his title, though it was said with mild disdain. It wasn't enough to be considered offensive, but it did make James Potter bristle. "I have heard that the current Mr. Ritter is no longer part of your family. Strange, considering how I've also heard how strong his magic is, and how sharp his mind too. Petty revenge on those who reject you, especially after your abandonment of them, is not befitting a member of this body."

A quiet murmuring spread through the room at that. Part of it was due to a staunchly neutral family head standing up and offering an opinion, rather than simply voting as they usually did. A larger part of it, however, was because of what Aylett had actually said.

While it had quickly become common knowledge that Harry was no longer a Potter, neither he nor the Potters had actually released a statement regarding the reasons behind it. Now with Aylett's slant on it being the first one voiced, and it would undoubtedly spread once the session was over, James was on the back foot.

Three seats to James' right, Pollux Luxbrough got to his feet and added his own words to the growing discussion. "Regardless of the events prior to this information coming to light, it would behove us as upstanding members of the community to at least investigate this claim. Validating it would allow us time to act, before anything... insidious might have a chance to occur."

The noise in the room grew, before being cut off as Amelia finally got to her feet. She slammed her palms down on the barrier in front of, quieting the hall and drawing attention to herself.

"Throwing accusations around is _not_ what the Wizengamot is meant to do. Even if this were a trial, we would see all evidence presented before coming to a decision. As this is not a trial, an investigation can only begin when a claim is given some substance." Amelia's stern voice chided them, before she levelled a mild glare at James Potter.

"I would also like to ask that any accusations of wrongdoing and evidence supporting it be presented to my department at the earliest opportunity." James looked like he was going to interrupt, but Amelia didn't let him. "_If_ you truly wish the Wizengamot to begin action, Lord Potter, please provide us with some proof, or even an inconsistency to work off, not just accusations when the accused is not here to even attempt to mount a defence."

Dumbledore then spoke himself. "The matter is closed for now, unless Lord Potter would like to contribute his reasoning behind his claim?"

"Not at this time." James almost snarled, but managed to control himself for now.

"In that case, I have something that the Wizengamot may be surprised to see." Amelia stated. "It seems that the Potters aren't the only ones recently who aren't as dead as we thought they were." She indicated the door to the side room, which opened and out marched the two aurors and Pettigrew.

Amelia would never admit it to anyone, but she did glean some sadistic pleasure out of James Potter's expression at seeing his old 'friend' there and then. "Peter Pettigrew, presumed deceased at the hands of Sirius Black, and now he stands before us once again. His status as 'still living' brought up some inconsistencies in the case of Sirius Black, and so was questioned."

"What did you learn from him." Augusta Longbottom asked, looking at her younger friend, wondering what Amelia's angle was.

Amelia didn't start with that however. "Priori Incantatem used on his wand revealed a blasting curse, which was strangely enough around twelve years old. Also in his possession was a second wand, thirteen and a half inches long, yew with a phoenix feather core. It was the wand of our most recent dark lord."

Noise exploded through the room at that, and Amelia herself made no effort to quieten them down this time. She let them build themselves up, focusing on the information she had just provided and leaving James Potter's accusations of Harry to fade from their immediate recall.

A loud noise, like a cannon blast, was released from Dumbledore's wand, and he called the Wizengamot to order, before gesturing for Amelia to continue with what she had been saying.

"I wish to bring Peter Pettigrew to trial for several crimes, including but not limited to, the murder of muggles, the support of the terrorist known as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and as an accessory in attempted murder." Amelia spoke clearly. "I also wish to review the case of Sirius Black, and grant him a trial too, one that he never actually received in the first place."

Once again, noise erupted from the Wizengamot.

Amelia had never been to such a loud Wizengamot meeting before. Usually, a handful of people would propose new laws, state their reasons for it, the idea would then be discussed, and after several months, it would either become an actual law or be rejected. Occasionally, there would be something new brought before the Wizengamot, things such as the results of the biannual meetings of the ICW, or the scheduling of trials that required the full Wizengamot's presence, but rarely was there anything worth kicking up a fuss about.

Amelia had to speak up to be heard for the next part, even after they'd quietened down a little. "As Sirius Black was never actually convicted of a crime, his imprisonment constitutes a breach of our laws, and as such, I move that he be given the right to claim his family seat on the Wizengamot."

Dumbledore scrutinised Amelia Bones for a moment before speaking. "I presume that you have brought Mr. Black with you then?" He asked. "If that is the case, please can you tell the Wizengamot about his state of mind, and whether he is rational enough to join us."

"When I first visited Mr. Black in Azkaban, I found him to be lucid and aware. His recovery since then has gone well, and he is now presentable. The only issues he currently has are nightmares and some memory loss due to dementor exposure. A mind healer has declared him fit to rejoin society." Amelia stated.

"Are you not going beyond the limits of your department there, Madam Bones?" Gerald Cauldwell spoke up. "Surely such a significant investigation should not have been obscured like this?"

"I was fully within my right to complete this investigation." Amelia responded. "I came across the files when looking into... other matters." Her eyes flickered across to James Potter, and it was blatantly obvious what she was looking into. "As the file was never completed, I took it upon myself to collect all of the relevant information, and it was kept relatively secret so that no evidence was contaminated."

"You have assembled all of the evidence regarding Pettigrew and Black?" Dumbledore asked, getting an affirmative from Amelia. "In that case, I propose that it will be examined and taken to trial. All in favour?" The majority of wands were raised. "It has passed, and it is now the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's responsibility to organise."

Amelia accepted that with grace. While she _could_ push for the trial to occur then and there, or have the evidence examined, the Wizengamot was _not_ purely a group that judged innocent and guilty. As traditionalists would say 'everything in the right place, done the right way, and at the right time', which she would follow so as to not make things difficult with that particular group.

She gestured to the two aurors who had brought out Pettigrew to take him away and relay to Black that he should remain where he was as he would not be permitted to take his seat until after the trial. She would schedule it soon though, she had a lot of evidence already collected, so it wouldn't be a difficult trial. Perhaps she could even have everything over and done with before the next weekend?

She settled down to listen to the next thing brought up, hiding her frown as she heard what it was. The Umbridge woman who held one of the ministry seats – though why the Under-secretary of the Minister rated a place alongside Department Heads, she'd never know – was calling for more restrictions for werewolves _again_.

xxxxx

On Monday morning, Harry cautiously made his way down to breakfast, once again with Bast and not the other two. He hadn't actually seen much of his other familiars over the weekend, the two of them were apparently constantly training. Of course, he and Bast had trained quite a bit as well, and the cat-girl's speed and strength was definitely growing at a decent pace, not to mention she was in the process of creating a technique of her own that would enhance her own speed and strength.

The shade's report regarding the Wizengamot meeting was why Harry was making sure to be careful and wary. Harry didn't want James Potter to be able to get any 'evidence' on him to support his claim. True, he _could_ always bring up how Harry had been turned into an explosive magical zombie by James and Lily themselves, but he doubted he'd be particularly willing to do so.

While it wasn't actually illegal for him to animate Harry's corpse like that, or turn it into a weapon like he had, it would severely damage the Potter family's reputation and make people question them, which was something that James would want to avoid, especially with how Harry had done his own part in undermining his 'parents'.

While he was eating, Harry pulled out a muggle binder from his bag, and began to check over his holiday homework one last time. Everything looked fine to him, and he couldn't find any spelling or grammatical errors in his essays, so it should be fine. Even the extra stuff some of the professors had suggested he do was done.

By this point, the Great Hall was filling up with people. Harry kept a wary eye on James Potter as he headed to the staff table, but thankfully the man did little more than glare at him as he passed by. Harry wasn't looking forward to Transfiguration classes from now on, and he was also hesitant regarding Charms lessons. Lily Potter didn't seem to actively hate him as much as James did, but then again, he really didn't know her that well, and neither did she know him.

_~Just focus on one thing at a time, Harry.~_ Reinforce chided him. _~You have Defence Against the Dark Arts tomorrow, right? I wonder how good of a teacher Lupin will turn out to be?~_

_~He achieved an O in his Defence NEWT.~_ Harry replied. _~He's also a werewolf himself, so he should know a few things. Still, ability to learn does not equal ability to teach. Look at Snape. It's easy to see that the man is a remarkable brewer, and he understands the higher level stuff that's way beyond me, but...~_

_~He's not really very good at passing that knowledge on, not to a class at least. Perhaps he might be better as a tutor, or for a higher level class.~_ Reinforce finished for him.

"Good Morning, Harry." Fate greeted Harry, sitting down across the table from him.

"Morning, Fate." He replied, Bast echoing him. "Looking forward to today?"

"Yes, I am actually, but I'm also looking forward to some of my other classes, like Defence." Fate said. "I'm hoping that we get the opportunity to spar in class, if not tomorrow then later in the year. It should be interesting to see how wizards fight."

"Strangely enough me and Rein were just talking about that class." Harry chuckled, slight amusement glinting in his eyes.

He understood that Fate meant she wanted to actually see how their methods differed from the Belkan and Mid-Childan methods she knew, the strange fighting style Harry had, and what he'd told her of how they did things. Hearing about it from someone who'd read up on the subject was one thing, but a practical demonstration was definitely more useful.

"Wizards don't 'spar', Fate, they duel." Harry chuckled. "There's a lot of rules and formality involved, and it's actually nothing like what aurors are taught, or what is really possible. Think about it like this; if fighting is two soldiers on a battlefield, duelling is like two nobles fencing. One is about what works, can be over quickly, and will probably involve a lot of dirty tricks, while the other will usually last a while and revolves more around finesse and technique."

Fate shrugged lightly. "Either way, it should still be interesting."

"It should." Harry agreed. "Lupin will likely focus on Dark Creatures and how to combat them though, rather than hexes and curses, as that's his speciality and preference. I have it on good authority that he's strongly considering purchasing some creatures, such as grindylows and hinkypunks, for the classes to see first hand."

Fate gave Harry a wry smile. "I'm not even going to ask how you know that." She shook her head, thinking about something with a slight frown. "grindylows are water demons, aren't they? What's a hinkypunk though?"

"Grindylows aren't true demons." Harry corrected her. "They're water animals that eat pretty much whatever they can get their hands on, and they have a rather strong grip. If they find larger prey in their territory, such as humans, they will drag it down until it drowns and then eat them. Hinkypunks look like smoke with a lantern, and are mostly harmless. They'll lure travellers into bogs and swamps, but if threatened, then they start throwing fireballs from their lanterns. Hinkypunks are often mistaken for wisps manifested on the material plane."

"Those don't sound too bad." Fate commented. "I mean, we're learning about them in third year, so they can't be massively dangerous, can they?"

"They're quite easy to deal with as long as you don't panic, yes." Harry confirmed. "They're also rather common in Europe, which might be another reason we learn about them earlier than others, like acromantula and quintapeds, neither of which are native to Britain."

"Okay." Fate nodded, thinking to herself.

Just then, the morning post arrived. One owl amongst the parliament of them stood out though, as it seemed to be weighed down with a stack of letters, perhaps two dozen all told, rather than one or two. The fact it landed in front of Harry just made it more interesting to everyone else.

"Oh, I didn't expect a response so soon." Harry muttered to himself, offering the owl some bacon while he relieved it of its letters.

"Were you expecting a lot of mail?" Fate couldn't help but ask, wondering who Harry knew that would send so much to him in one go.

"Yes, but not for a while." Harry paused, erecting some anti-eavesdropping spells in case anyone was listening in, but neglecting to put up privacy charms so it didn't look _too_ suspicious. "I sent a letter to Mahoutokoro in Japan, their magical school, about the possibility of enrolling there if everything goes south in Britain."

"That looks like a lot more than a simple yes or no to me." Fate said, eyeing the stack of letters.

"Hmm." Harry replied non-committally, opening the letter on top of the stack and reading it.

Fate waited for him to finish, briefly initiating Telepathy with Nanoha and Hayate, so they could chat without talking across tables. She looked back at him when he chuckled and folded the letter back up, giving him a curious, inquiring look.

"They basically said that I won't get any favouritism." Harry explained. "If I want to be a student there, I'll have to complete entrance exams just like every other applicant. There was also a bit there about some of their current students hoping to improve their English, and whether or not I'd be willing to be something like a pen pal for them."

"So that's what all of the other letters are about then?" Fate asked.

"Most of them. Two of the letters are different though, one is the curriculum for the classes I'm interested in, and the other is the coursework associated with those classes." Harry told her. "I get the feeling they're curious about me, but don't want to appear too interested."

Harry searched through the stack of letters until he found the two relevant ones. When he opened them and laid them flat on the table, Fate could see that there wasn't actually anything written on them. Instead, there was what looked like a circle with a lot of symbols and squiggly lines in it on each of them.

"They're seals." Harry explained. "Sort of the eastern equivalent of runes, and supposedly some of the most complicated magic in the world. Unless I'm mistaken, these are storage seals, so if I pump a little of my magic into them, like so..." Harry placed a hand on each of them and did so, resulting in two puffs of smoke that quickly dissipated. "I should be able to retrieve the contents."

Fate saw that there was now two stacks of papers on top of the letters, one several inches high, while the other was much smaller. "Wow, that looks very useful." She commented.

Harry waved her off. "Storage seals are nothing special. Western wizards tend to shrink things down and use internally expanded bags instead of seals. Neither method is really superior to the other." Harry sighed. "I've have to look at all of this later though, we've got classes to get to."

"Charms is first, a double period, and then I've got a single of Arithmancy and Divination. After lunch I have a Care of Magical Creatures double." Fate said, after she'd looked at her timetable.

"So I'm in Charms and Care with you. Nanoha and Hayate both took Arithmancy, and Hayate took Care as well, didn't she? Did Nanoha take Divination?" Harry wondered aloud, trying to remember which subjects the girls had chosen.

"Yes, she did." Fate confirmed. "She also chose Runes. Hayate is taking Care of Magical Creatures, and of course Arithmancy, but decided not to take a third elective."

"I'll try and remember that." Harry said. "For now though, let's head to Charms, we have it with Hufflepuff, don't we?"

Harry re-sealed the stacks of paper back into the letters, before putting them all in his bag. He then got up from the table, as did Fate, and headed off to the first lesson of the day. Nanoha and Hayate quickly finished eating breakfast before joining them by the doors.

As always, Bast stuck close to Harry, but remained mostly silent.

xxxxx

Nanoha had so far found Hogwarts to be rather interesting, though that could just be the novelty of everything. It wasn't the magic, as she took far more pride in her Mid-Childan spells than she did the Terran ones she currently knew. No, it was the castle, the ghosts, the moving portraits, the talking suits of armour, and the suddenly appearing food that enraptured her.

Hufflepuff house was also proving rather friendly, which Nanoha was really happy about, and they already felt like they could be good friends. Of course, a side benefit of this could be the fact that now people might shut up about her 'befriending' people with violence, though she doubted that it would ever truly die.

She'd been asked a lot of questions about Japan, and if she needed any help settling in, and all sorts of things like that. Apparently, almost every Asian student that attends Hogwarts ended up in Ravenclaw for some reason, so they were doing their best to help her out without really knowing all that much about her home country.

Of course, not _every_ Hufflepuff was friendly and inviting. There was one in her year, Zacharias Smith, who was a bit of a conceited prick. He had told her about how she had 'obviously' done the right thing in coming to Hogwarts, because of course, as everyone knows, British is best. She'd also heard, four times already, how he was descended from Helga Hufflepuff, and how that made him practically royalty in the Wizarding World.

Nanoha was considering the pros and cons of simply punching the git in the face.

Still, a few annoying or condescending people aside, things had been going well for Nanoha. She might have only had one day of actual lessons so far, but learning from someone who knows what they're talking about, or actually practising something, was _infinitely_ better than simply learning from a book in her opinion.

Oh, Harry might learn a lot by reading a book - the logical and direct way he thought allowed him to apply theoretical knowledge to a practical situation to get results quickly – but Nanoha had always preferred a more 'hands on' way of learning. She learned best by trying things out, and most of the time she succeeded, and when she came across a problem, she could quickly work out a way around it, that is if she didn't power straight through it of course.

Now, here she was, heading towards Charms class, chatting merrily with Fate and Hayate. Harry and Bast were walking walking in front of them, the two quietly discussing something themselves, while Harry pretty much lead the way to the classroom.

Charms... wasn't a class that Nanoha was particularly interested in, if she was honest. She didn't see much use for it in her day to day life, and she doubted she'd really use them in her job, but Charms _was_ a core class, and so she had to go just like everyone else.

When they entered the Classroom, they found that professor Flitwick and Lily Potter had somehow gotten there before the students had. It was likely they'd taken another, more direct route to get there, or perhaps used a secret passage or two. She'd ask Harry later how many of them he knew of and where they were.

The lesson itself turned out, mostly, to be a recap of things that they should know already. That wasn't too much of a problem, and was in fact quite easy, so it went rather smoothly. Towards the end of the lesson, Flitwick collected in the holiday homework the students had done, and told them what topics to look up if they wanted to read ahead for his subject.

Nanoha was kind of surprised how demure and lady-like Lily Potter was acting though. From what little Nanoha knew, the redhead hadn't been from a particularly affluent family, had had some sort of strange hybrid of tomboy and preppy attitude in school, with a supposedly fiery temper.

What she was seeing wasn't anything like that at all. The Lilly Potter she was currently seeing seemed rather... bland, if she was honest. It was like Lily was a trophy wife or something, and she was here to support her husband. Where was her fire? Where was her drive? What had happened to her over the past decade and change to make her like this?

Well, it wasn't really Nanoha's business anyway, but she couldn't deny that she was curious.

She mentally shelved her thoughts and opinion as she headed towards Arithmancy without Harry.

xxxxx

Harry's third period that day was a free, and so he headed to the Hospital Wing. He greeted Madam Pomfrey, who returned it, before taking a seat himself. As no one was in the Infirmary, Harry decided to have another look through the stuff he'd been sent from Mahoutokoro.

He went through the letters he'd been sent in English first, and found that they were mostly the same. Each letter was an introduction, telling Harry who was sending him a letter, their race, what their interests, hobbies, likes, and dislikes were, and an almost generic request to continue correspondence.

It wasn't difficult for Harry to write up some replies himself. He gave an introduction of himself, his likes and all of the rest of it, and commented on what he knew of their own hobbies and interests.

There was one Yuki-Onna who had said she wasn't having much success with Ice Elemental Manipulation, despite her race having a natural aptitude with it, though she was doing rather well with illusions and was placed fourth in her year in that particular class.

There was an Oni, a male, who told Harry about his interest in musical instruments, and his desire to one day form a successful musical group with some of his friends. He also told Harry about his dislike for spicy food, though his best friend loved Thai curries.

There were more obviously, but Harry answered each of them individually. His introductions weren't identical from one letter to another, and Harry thought that they would become more individual as he exchanged more letters with these students.

Once all of them had been responded to, he set them aside to send off later. He then pulled out the two letters that held the curriculum and coursework in storage seals. He unsealed the curriculum first, before going through it. Harry began to tick off things he already could do, or that he'd already done.

The Spirit Calling course expected students to be able to contract with three daemons by the end of their first year. That was daemon, not demon, referring to a supernatural existence of nature or manifested force with a will of its own. Harry already had one contracted, as his Shade counted for this, despite being an Astral being and not a material one or a demon.

The Elemental Manipulation course, however, Harry doubted he would be able to enter. While he could use plenty of elemental _magic _and elemental _spells_, he could not directly manipulate the element, and neither did he have the time needed to dedicate to it, as a lot of meditation was involved in it. Even with his Magic Clones, he simply didn't have enough time with everything else he was having them study.

Harry looked up as three students walked into the Hospital Wing, getting to his feet alongside Madam Pomfrey. Both of them hit all three with diagnostic charms without hesitation, finding that all three of them had several magically caused cuts and bruises.

That was easily solved though. Harry took the first one off to the side and explained what he was doing as he healed the injuries. First, he purged the foreign magic from the minor injuries, before knitting the flesh together, followed by the skin. The last thing to do was apply some bruise balm to the remaining injuries.

Seeing that Madam Pomfrey's patient was being skittish and pulling away from her wand, Harry got the last of the three healed up, before pulling out a file from under Madam Pomfrey's and filling out an incident report. He noted down all of the injuries, how they were healed, and who had the injuries, as well as what time they'd turned up for healing. He then had his two patients fill in a statement of their own each to explain where the injuries came from.

Harry only glanced at what they were writing. It wasn't his responsibility to find out who had done it and punish them, that would be up to the heads of their houses when they received a copy of the report that evening. Madam Pomfrey would probably have a house elf take it to them or their offices.

Once the students were gone, Harry went back to what he was looking over before. Madam Pomfrey also went back to what she was doing, a comfortable silence falling over them as they used their time productively.

Bast also settled down when Harry pulled a book on martial arts for her out of his bag.

xxxxx

Harry had a single period Arithmancy lesson before lunch, and that went as well as he expected it to. After lunch itself, Harry headed outside, having also signed up for Care of Magical Creatures this year, which was being taught by Hagrid.

The first thing that struck Harry was just how many students had signed up for this class, including the likes of Draco Malfoy and his posse. Hermione, Ron, and Brian from Gryffindor had taken it too, if them being there was any indication.

Harry headed over to Fate and Hayate, saying hello to them when he got there.

"She really is like your shadow, isn't she?" Hayate commented, indicating Bast who was stood just behind and to the side of Harry.

"She's the only one of three I've really seen since we got back to Hogwarts." Harry responded. "Isis and Loki haven't stopped sparring except to eat and sleep all weekend. I'm starting to get a little worried about them, I don't want them to hurt themselves taking things too far."

"Do you want help staging an intervention?" Hayate asked.

"I'll give it a week or two." Harry replied. "If they don't relax by then, I'll interfere. I'd appreciate if you'd lend me a hand then, if the offer is still open."

"Of course." Hayate affirmed, Fate adding her own support as well.

Hermione and Brian then got close to Harry and said their own hellos.

"Do you have any idea what we're going to be learning about?" The bushy-haired girl asked. "I mean, that 'monster book of monsters' hasn't been too useful so far, I haven't been able to read it."

Harry winced. "I had to magically force it open and pin it down to read it." He told her. "Thankfully, once I'd read it, I could add it to my Tome, so I'm not going to have any more trouble with that book."

Hermione sighed. "I wish I had something like that." She glared mildly at Harry's Tome of Shadows. "It's like an entire library in one book."

Brian chuckled a little unsurely. "Well, I think we'll find out in a minute anyway. That's Hagrid there, isn't it?"

Indeed it was, Hagrid was striding out of the Forbidden Forest, which didn't really set Harry's mind at ease regarding the danger level of this lesson. After all, there was a lot of rather nasty creatures in that forest, though there were some good ones as well, like unicorns.

"Alright, everyone, I've got a cracking lesson for you today." Hagrid called out. "Now, first thing's first, has everyone got their books with them?"

Harry held his Tome loosely in the crook of his arm, while everyone else revealed their own textbooks. Every last one of them was bound up in some way, either with tape, rope, belts, or something else, one of them had even kept it shut with a clamp.

"Has no one been able to open them?" Hagrid asked, looking forlorn, until he spotted Harry. "What about you, Harry, did you get yours open?"

"With force, yes." Harry admitted. "Seeing as the book acted like an animal, I'm guessing we were supposed to either intimidate or coax them into opening, dealing with them like you would a living creature?"

"That's right." Hagrid nodded. "Either of those would work, but the best way to do it is to stroke their spines. Here, let me show you lot how it's done."

With that, Hagrid reached for the nearest book, tearing off the tape as he did so. The book shook violently in his hand, but the large man ran one finger down its spine, resulting in it immediately shivering, as if in pleasure, before falling open in Hagrid's large hand.

Slowly, other people copied him. However, they all looked rather warily at the books even after they'd been pacified, and Harry couldn't blame them. For all they knew, the book could snap shut at any time, and given just how feral the books acted, it was probably not a good idea to let one get a good grip on your hand or fingers.

"Right, you've got your books now, so come and see your creatures. Follow me, their just round here." Hagrid called out to them, before turning around and leading them towards the forest.

Draco Malfoy, when Hagrid had his back turned, made several derogatory comments about their new professor, making several other students, mostly Gryffindors, bristle. Harry, not wanting Malfoy's comments to mess things up, as Care of Magical Creatures wasn't a lesson you should really mess about in, _especially_ with the type of creatures Hagrid was likely to show them, silenced the blonde boy with a spell.

He then used a leashing spell, normally used on toddlers and small children who are liable to wander off, to ensure he kept up with the class as they wandered towards the forest. Thankfully, said leashing spell wasn't visible, as it was meant for use while amongst muggles, and so Draco didn't know who had shut him up and dragged him along with the rest of the group.

Harry's snickering at Malfoy halted when he saw what Hagrid had been leading them towards.

Hippogryffs.

After a moment, Harry's mind caught up with what he was seeing, and he felt a slight gnawing worry inside. True, hippogryffs were beautiful and impressive – and would have made for a wonderful demonstration – but he didn't think it was best to bring them out for a first lesson. They were, after all, noble and proud creatures, which basically meant they were easily offended, and with how intelligent they were, they _knew_ when they were being insulted.

Harry tuned Hagrid out for the most part, keeping a careful eye on the equine-avian hybrids, but his attention was pulled back when most of the class took a step backwards. Taking a moment to recall what Hagrid had been saying, Harry remembered that he'd been asking for volunteers.

Sighing, Harry stepped forwards, deciding to simply get this over with.

"Good man, Harry!" Hagrid cheered. "Why don't you come on up and say hello to Nightclaw here?" The large man indicated a darkly coloured hippogryph that had piercing amber eyes, and ferocious looking talons, along with a sharp beak.

"Just climb over the fence, approach him, and bow." Hagrid told Harry. "Don't blink a lot, that makes them nervous. Just wait for him to bow back to you."

Smoothly, Harry hopped over the fence, and did exactly as Hagrid said. Maintaining eye contact, Harry bowed to the hippogryph and waited for a response.

The hippogryph did not return the bow immediately, but slowly walked up to Harry, who heard Hagrid tell him to remain perfectly still and not to provoke it.

Nightclaw came so close that his beak was right by Harry's head, when it gave a sniff. Harry wondered what it was about him that the hippogryph could smell that made it so curious, but he couldn't really think of anything. He was very relieved, however, when, after a few moments more of consideration, Nightclaw sunk into what was, unmistakably, a bow.

"Nicely done, Harry, give him a pat on the beak." Hagrid told Harry, which he did. However, he wasn't expecting what Hagrid said next. "I think he'll let you ride him now."

Harry was considering declining that when Hagrid came up to him, picked him up with one hand, set him on Nightclaw's back, and then slapped his rump to set him off.

It wasn't that Harry was particularly scared of flying, because he wasn't, and even if he did fall, he had a flight spell that would easily catch him. No, Harry was simply still unaware of why Nightclaw had sniffed him, and being alone in the air with the hippogryph made him... uneasy.

It turned out that nothing bad actually happened on the flight. In fact, Harry found it rather pleasant, even with the rhythmical up and down motion of the wings and body, as well as the expanding and contracting chest of the breathing hippogryph.

Once he was back on the ground though, he dismounted and returned to Bast's side. Said cat-girl was looking ever so slightly worried, probably regarding Harry's safety, and stuck even closer to his side than she did before, throwing the occasional glare at Hagrid for taking her master out of her immediate reach.

The two of them watched as the rest of the class practised bowing to hippogryffs, and either stroking them if they returned the bow, or backing away if they didn't. Harry's eyes fell on a, now no longer silenced, Malfoy, who was stroking the beak of a grey-feathered, orange-eyed hippogryph named Buckbeak.

"This is _easy._" He drawled. "I don't see what all the fuss is about. If a nerdy _Ravenclaw _can do it, there's no way that a proud Slytherin pureblood couldn't." He sneered at Harry, having seen him look his way. "Why, there's nothing dangerous about you at all, is there, you stupid chicken?"

"Panzerschild!" Harry called out immediately, knowing exactly what was going to happen before it actually occurred.

Hagrid _had _told them about how easy to anger hippogryffs were. Granted, it had been when Harry himself had mostly tuned him out to keep an eye on the creatures, but he'd still said it, and Draco Malfoy goes and does the exact opposite of what he's told. Does this idiot even have such a thing as basic survival instincts? How the bloody hell did someone so clueless end up in Slytherin?

"Chain Bind." Harry added another spell to keep Buckbeak from injuring Malfoy, while he himself headed over to check the blonde for any injuries. As he was the assistant healer, he had the responsibility to do so, especially as he was already present.

"Idiot." Harry growled. "Next time you try and kill yourself, do it when there's no one around. I have no desire to see your corpse, Malfoy. Thankfully, you don't have any injuries on you _this_ time, but if you feel shook up later, go to the Hospital Wing for a dose of shock potion."

The blonde sneered at him, but it didn't seem quite as firm as usual, and his face was even paler than it normally was. Of course, with how fact everything had just happened, and how close he'd come to having his throat torn open, that was understandable.

Harry sighed and palmed his face.

Not even a full week into the year and already he wanted it over and done with.


	15. The First Foray

AN: Sorry this is a bit later than I'd meant it, but hopefully it satisfies you guys. Now, for those that are still unaware, yes, this story is influenced by the Soul Reaver games, so if you want to know what a sluagh looks like, look it up in conjunction with that game. Not much really happened this chapter, but things _should_ heat up from now on. Expect more of the Astral Plane, and some more Wizengamot meetings too! Hopefully the meetings won't be as boring as the first one, even if politics isn't really all that riveting, I still apologise.

Beta'd by: The trolling SnarkLord

Chapter 15 - The First Foray

When Harry and Bast returned to their room after classes that day, they found Loki looking confused regarding something. Isis didn't seem to be paying him any attention, as she was healing up her injuries from the day long training session the two had had, so it was probably something else that had him like that.

"What's up, Loki?" Harry asked, deciding to get straight to it.

"Hmm, you know how I've got listening charms in the common rooms and other places?" Loki distractedly replied.

"Yes, I know." Harry replied. "Even though I think it unlikely for people to discuss 'secret' things so openly, it doesn't hurt to be careful." Besides, if people were trying to keep things a secret, they wouldn't talk about them where almost anyone could overhear them.

"There seems to be a problem with them." Loki told him. "Several times today, my spells have picked up two or three copies of Hermione, and they sometimes just disappear for no reason."

"That's... odd." Harry commented. "Is it just Hermione that's showing up like this?"

"Yes, it's just her." Loki grumbled. "If there were more errors, I'd think my spells are failing, or something was interfering with them, but no, that doesn't seem to be the case. I wonder if she's been experimenting with spells or something."

"Do my magic clones show up as two copies of me?" Harry asked, casting said spell so that there were now two of him stood in front of Loki.

Loki huffed, casting a detection spell at Harry. "No, your clone is showing up as an active spell, not you, so she's not doing the same thing you are. Somehow, there are two or more _physical and real _copies of her at the same time!"

Harry didn't know why Loki was getting these results, but perhaps they could narrow down what was going on. "Is there any pattern yet in where or when they appear and disappear?" He asked.

"When she's alone." Loki immediately replied. "She disappears an hour or two after she appears in the same spot, as backwards as that sounds."

"Well, next time she sets one of your charms off, simply go to wherever she appeared and use a recording spell. We'll pick it up later and see what she's doing when she vanishes." Harry offered. "I'm sure there's some visual spying spells in the tome, isn't there?"

"Yeah, there is." Loki confirmed. "I don't use them much as they don't last more than a day or so, and they use a lot more magic to cast, making them far easier to detect."

Harry shrugged. "Well we might as well use it now, I doubt Hermione will notice it." By that, Harry wasn't being insulting, it was just that such detection spells weren't on the school syllabus, and while Hermione liked to read a lot, she would probably have looked into other subjects instead of magical methods of eavesdropping and spying on others.

Loki made a noise of agreement, before focusing back on whatever it was he was doing. Harry decided to go over and lend Isis a hand, healing up her cuts and bruises that she'd gotten sparring with Loki. She gave him a bright smile as he did so, but she didn't hug him, not until they were finished healing her at least.

"Thanks for that, Harry." Isis said, pulling him tight against her chest once she was no longer injured.

"No problem, Isis." He replied, his cheeks somewhat pink at his current situation. Despite Isis doing this and other intimate things rather often, Harry _was_ a thirteen year old boy, and that meant hormones messing with him. The fact that Harry was in a relationship, of some sort, with her and Reinforce merely made things more intense.

Reinforce decided to be a little mischievous, and materialised next to Harry before joining the hug.

"Perverts." Bast muttered, looking at the two females.

"And proud of it." Isis declared.

Bast gave the two adult women a look, before her eyes slid to the teenage Harry. Her eyes twinkled slightly, and her lips were tugged upwards into a smirk.

"Paedophiles then." She commented.

Loki, behind Bast, rolled his eyes at her remarks. When people didn't exactly have a definite lifespan, such things as relative age became rather meaningless. Of course, if Harry wasn't as mature as he was, it would be a different matter, but he was, so it wasn't an issue as far as he was concerned.

"Trying to stake your own claim?" Isis asked, looking Bast up and down.

The cat-girl was the only one who looked like a teenager in her 'standard' form. True, the others could use transformation magic to age themselves up and down, but they preferred their current appearances to that. None of them knew why those forms were their standard ones, or why they felt most comfortable like that, it was just how things were.

"Perhaps I _should _save him from your lust." Bast shot back at the unicorn.

"Sorry, _little girl_, but he obviously likes a real woman." Isis' eyes narrowed at the cat.

Harry, for his part, was quite confused. This wasn't like either Bast or Isis, the former was stoic and reserved, while the latter was easy-going and playful. If someone had made the paedophile comment to Isis before, Harry would have said she would have happily agreed to them, and acidic words were _not_ what Harry expected from Bast at all.

Bast bristled at that "If that's the case, what's he doing with a hag like you?" She shot back.

"A _hag?!_" Isis snarled.

"Okay, okay! Enough!" Harry interrupted the two before things could degenerate further. "What the heck has gotten into you two?" Harry exclaimed. "We've got enough problems to deal with right now without you two adding to it."

"It's nothing, Harry." Isis said.

"I apologise, master." Bast added.

Harry frowned, looking between the two. He had thought that all of his familiars got along with each other, but it seemed he was wrong. Even now, with the both of them looking contrite, their stiff posture told him that the two still had some sort of problem with each other.

"Okay then, just please try and keep yourselves calm." He sighed. "Things are going to be difficult this year, _especially_ with the Potters here, and I'd prefer it if we weren't fighting amongst ourselves."

"Understood." Both female familiars spoke in unison.

Loki frowned. "Strangely, the only Potter that seems to have a problem with us is James himself. The children actually seem... curious about us, if not fairly open and friendly. Lily Potter appears to be confused about everything and unsure of how to act. As far as I can tell, she's taking her cues from her husband."

"I noticed." Harry muttered. "Is it just me, or does she seem... really submissive? I mean, when people talk about her, they always mention how she constantly used to shoot James down, how she had a bit of a temper, and how she was one of those people that stood out."

"Maybe she realised just how tough muggleborns have it in magical Britain." Isis suggested with a shrug. "I mean, look at the ministry. They have a single half-blood Head of Department, and all of the others are purebloods, despite only about fifteen percent of the British magical population being purebloods."

"You memorised something like that?" Harry asked Isis in surprise. "Why?"

The unicorn shrugged again. "Just like you and Loki, I _was_ looking into who was influential and might be able to be convinced to help us." She deflected. "It's hard _not_ to find out stuff like that when the same names keep turning up again and again."

"She's right though." Loki added. "Most of Britain's magical population are half-bloods. The only reason muggleborns aren't the most numerous is because they're pretty much always the first ones targeted when another war happens."

"Okay, we've gotten off topic, it seems." Harry clapped his hands together. "Now, we've successfully endured the first attempt at discrediting us, but we all know there will be more. There'll also be more people looking closely at us, wondering if there's any truth to the accusations."

Isis' snort interrupted Harry. "They're right as well, there _is_ some truth to them. You are a lich, Harry, and we are, technically, mana constructs that emulate living beings."

Harry sighed, rolling his eyes. "I _know_, and as Hogwarts only allows human, or at least _half_ human, students, that's a problem for me, as I would be classed as inhuman, I'm an _undead_ creature after all."

Loki let out a hum of curiosity at that, before giving Harry a quizzical look. "Are you really?" He said, though it sounded like it was addressed more to himself than the others. "The undead tend to be characterised by a lack of life, high speed regeneration, and nigh infinite stamina."

"Well, medical scans return... confused results for me." Harry slowly replied, thinking about it. "That's because it recognises me as both alive and not at the same time. I don't think I heal particularly fast, but I _might_ be able to with an expenditure of tiet. I'd imagine such healing would use a lot of it up though, so even if I knew _how_ to do it, I don't have large enough reserves to really take advantage of something like that. My stamina is above average, I know that at least, but that could easily be attributed to the fact I exercise and spar more than the average person."

Bast gave Harry a sharp look there. "James Potter, would he have access to your medical records?" She asked.

"No." Harry frowned. "The headmaster and the school healer, Madam Pomfrey, do though."

"I've already doctored your record at Hogwarts." Loki spoke up. "As you're medically qualified yourself now, you can do your own check ups for yourself, or you could have Shamal registered as your personal healer. It's something to consider, but not particularly important right now."

Reinforce prodded Harry in his sides, before pulling him down to the mattress with her.

"There's nothing we can do right now but brainstorm, so why don't you settle down and get a good night's sleep." She chided him.

"I'm not at all tired though." Harry told her, and he didn't look it either.

"Well, what can you really do this late at night?" Reinforce questioned him. "All of your homework is done, your latest golem is in production, and you have your magic clones going through all those theory books for Mahotokouro's courses."

"Hmm, that's the question, isn't it?" Harry cycled through his thoughts for a few moments. A few zombie insects flew out of his sleeves and began to dance in the air in front of him. They drew intricate and beautiful patterns, doing so in a way that was blatantly not natural in any way. "Ah, I've thought of something I can do!"

"Yes?" Loki nudged him curiously.

"I've been meaning to learn how to planes-walk from my shade, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Now is as good a time as any, no?" Harry grinned.

"That's a good idea, Harry." Isis chirped. "Maybe you'll find some super awesome necromancy stuff on the Astral Plane, yeah!?"

"I doubt it'll be that easy." Bast frowned, shifting uncomfortably. "And we can't be there to protect him. Magic does not _exist_ on the Astral Plane, and familiars _are_ mana constructs, even if we are based around a physical body."

"I can look after myself for a short while, Bast." Harry told his cat-girl with some exasperation. "Isis is right too, I _might_ find something useful there. The only true necromancy I currently know is the shade summoning, Wraith-blade, and shadow bolt, I could do with expanding my repertoire."

Bast frowned, showing that she wasn't particularly happy about the situation. However, she also knew that Harry was going to go through with it regardless, the opportunity was simply too good not to, and the potential gains were fairly high as well. Still, that wouldn't stop her worrying about her master.

"Be safe." She told him.

Harry smiled, placed one hand on her head, and ruffled her hair.

"I'll do my best." He agreed, before calling for his shade in order to ask it how one travelled from one plane of existence to another.

xxxxx

Harry dropped to one knee once he'd successfully shifted to the Astral Plane. Surprisingly, it hadn't actually cost him _any_ tiet to do so, he'd just had to cycle it through his body in a specific manner. His shade had described it like falling off a ledge, and returning to the Material Plane like climbing a ladder, which would cost him some tiet.

"It's so cold." Harry muttered, shivering slightly.

"Don't worry." His shade, which floated next to him, told Harry. "Right now, you are a spirit, lack of heat won't do you any harm."

"It's still rather uncomfortable." Harry grumbled, straightening up and looking around.

The Astral Plane... wasn't quite what Harry had imagined it would be. Everything he could see seemed to be in shades of pale blue and grey, or at least subdued and rather unimpressive. The 'air', even if there wasn't such a thing here, seemed slightly blurry, like mist without the fog, or something like that. There were also no real rounded corners, it seemed everything was quite sharp and angular.

Harry invoked his Wraith-blade, the massive, broad flamberge sword appearing in Harry's right hand. He noticed that it seemed easier to call it up here than in the Material World, where he'd practised both it and his shadow bolt. Perhaps it was easier here because this plane encouraged necromancy or something, or maybe it was because there was no mana to get in the way?

Harry went to ask Rein for her thoughts, before freezing.

"Are you well, master?" The shade asked.

"Reinforce, I can't hear her." Harry whispered, freezing as a cold feeling of dread slowly took hold of him. "I can't feel Isis, Loki, or Bast either. Shade, will coming to the Astral Plane have some sort of negative affect on them!?" He demanded.

The shade faded from view, and Harry spent several seconds panicking before it reappeared.

"They are fine, master." The shade assuaged his worries. "They say it feels 'weird' not being able to sense you, but Reinforce currently contains your mana, so their isn't any unpleasant side effects."

"My head feels so empty." Harry mumbled. "I hadn't realised just how used to Reinforce being there I'd gotten."

He felt vulnerable, naked, and more than a little frightened. He didn't have Reinforce to discuss things with, to give him another opinion, to back him up if things went wrong. It felt like someone had... not ripped him in two, but like there was something significant missing.

He didn't like feeling like this.

To get his mind off the feeling, Harry slowly approached the doorway. In the Material World, this doorway was what separated the male head boy's room from the Ravenclaw common room. Here, well, the room Harry was currently stood in seemed fairly empty, and he had no idea what was on the other side.

Staying some distance away from the door, Harry raised his foot to it, and pushed it open. Stepping inside, once he saw there was nothing immediately in front of him, Harry took a good look at what was there, and also what was _in_ there.

The room looked relatively the same as the common room he knew, but movable things didn't seem to be there. There was the bookcases, but no books, the wall seats by the windows, but no cushions, the fireplace, but no chairs in front of it, and no tables or chairs scattered throughout the room either.

What was _in_ there, seemed to be some form of spirit, They were humanoid, with long arms, hunched over, and had sickly green skin. They had stringy hair that hung down to either their shoulders, waist, or knees, massive, pupil-less eyes, mouths filled with sharp fangs, and claws in place of hands and feet.

"Class two spirits." Harry's shade told him. "Weak, unintelligent, cowardly, and mostly scavengers. Often referred to as sluagh, they should prove no challenge to you. They attack in groups, and will attempt to flee if alone and/or weakened."

One of the sluagh saw Harry and gave off a strange shrieking noise, catching the attention of the others. As one, they all began to run towards Harry, reaching out to him with their unclean-looking claws.

Harry went to jump backwards, but found he didn't get as far as he normally could. Of course, he then remembered that mana didn't exist on the Astral Plane, and therefore he couldn't use it to augment his body like he usually did. That limited him to the power and agility of a thirteen year old human child.

That is, a physically active thirteen year old human child.

Deciding to see how effective it was, Harry raised his left hand and fired a shadow bolt at the nearest sluagh. It wailed as it was knocked off its feet and thrown backwards. However, it didn't look particularly injured, though how injuries would appear on a spiritual being, Harry didn't really know.

Shifting his Wraith-blade into a two-handed grip, Harry decided to go on the offensive.

He thrust his blade at the nearest sluagh, impaling it in its bloated stomach, before ripping his blade out sideways, and then attacking another of the ugly creatures. He glanced back at the first sluagh to see what damage he'd done, and froze in shock at seeing no physical damage there. In fact, the only difference was that the sluagh seemed... fainter, less solid and more ghost-like.

That moment of surprise almost cost Harry, as he only just managed to avoid the claws of another sluagh. He got away with it only grazing his shoulder, but oh, how it burned! He almost dropped his Wraith-blade as a fiery pain unlike any he'd ever felt before erupted from his shoulder.

Like with the sluagh, there was no visible wound on Harry's spiritual body, but he _definitely_ felt it. Pushing the pain aside, however, Harry continued to fight the sluagh. His priority was to not get surrounded, as then one of them might manage to attack him from behind.

An ear-splitting shriek almost made Harry drop his sword in order to cover his ears when one of the sluagh went almost invisible, and then was... pulled into his Wraith-blade? What the heck!?

Harry had a feeling that there was more to the Wraith-blade than his shade had told him.

However, he could ask about that later, right now he had to fight these things that had attacked him.

His eyes hardened as he counted the remaining sluagh. There were eight left, and they were a disorganised mess, getting in each others' way rather than working together. They may have a generally human shape, but these spirits were less intelligent than a pack of wolves or similar animals.

This wouldn't be too difficult.

xxxxx

"That... was harder than I thought it would be." Harry grumbled once the last screaming spirit had been dragged into his Wraith-blade.

"Perhaps." His shade offered. "Your tiet reserves are rather small, so it shouldn't be too surprising that you can't keep going for too long. If you were using anything more tiet-intensive than the handful of shadow bolts you used to knock them back with, you might not have been able to finish the battle."

Harry turned his eyes on his shade, frowning. "I have a question for you, just what the hell happened there!? When I 'killed' each sluagh, it seemed to be absorbed into my sword, what's that all about?"

"They were devoured, of course." The shade replied, as if it should be obvious.

"Devoured?" Harry prodded for it to elaborate.

"Your Wraith-blade is made from your own tiet, and when you subdued the sluagh, they were absorbed into your system. Now, they will break down and strengthen you, increasing your own reserves and power. Granted, something as weak as a sluagh won't provide much of a boost, but it is something, especially with how weak you are right now." The shade explained.

"I _devoured_ their souls!?" Harry demanded with wide eyes.

"It is no different than you killing and eating a rabbit or fish in the Material World." The shade told him. "Their 'soul', as you have called it, will come apart and become part of you. Their 'mind' is not part of that equation, you just 'ate' their spiritual flesh."

"Is there anything _else_ I should know about this process?" Harry growled, not at all happy about not knowing that about his Wraith-blade.

"Depending on what you absorb, your system may mutate, allowing you to gain various abilities and skills. However, such things are rather uncommon, and would require you to either devour a large number of one type of spirit, or a stronger one that possesses the trait you desire." The shade explained. "Sluagh have no such trait."

Harry didn't reply immediately, thinking over what the shade had told him.

When he'd 'killed' the sluagh with his Wraith-blade, he'd 'devoured' them as well. The shade claimed it was like eating their spiritual flesh, like one ate the meat of an animal in the Material World, and the mind wasn't consumed along with the body. Still, the way they were dragged into his Wraith-blade was visually disturbing.

He didn't think he was going to be telling anyone outside of his familiars and Reinforce about the exact process that occurred when he defeated a spirit. As much as he liked and trusted Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, and all of the others, this was something he was going to keep to himself.

Besides, the sluagh had attacked him without provocation, hadn't they? It wasn't like Harry went out of his way to attack an intelligent being, but a wild animal had attacked him, right?

"Shade, you called the sluagh a 'class two' spirit, what did you mean by that?" Harry asked.

"A class one is little more than a clump of energy, like wisps are, and a few spirits that are essential the Astral Plane's version of bacteria and insects. A class two is a defined being, though one with only rudimentary intelligence at best. This includes beings such as sluagh, grim, and are equivalent to mortal animals such as dogs, cats, fish, and perhaps tigers and lions." The shade told Harry.

"How many classes are there?" Harry questioned it.

"There are seven." The shade replied. "The third class spirits are those with almost human intelligence and are capable of rational thought. You could equate them to cavemen or early civilizations. Fourth class are above humans in terms of ability, being both faster and stronger than humans. When the Astral Plane goes to war, these are the group leaders that direct weaker spirits in combat."

"What about fifth through seventh class spirits?" Harry asked.

"They are the most dangerous of all." The shade responded. "Fifth class are the 'elites' of the common spirits, capable of great devastation. They tend to have an ability or trait that allows them to casually slaughter weaker spirits with ease. Sixth class are the 'lords' of the Astral Plane, and tend to have control over a territory of their own. Seventh class are the greatest of spirits, the 'kings and queens' of this world, and even the weakest amongst them could erase a continent on their own."

"How tough are they?" Harry asked, already mentally calculating the destructive potential of each 'level' of spirit.

"Master, it is difficult to say." The shade paused. "The stronger the spirit is, the stronger the attacker must be to damage them. Right now, while your Wraith-blade can cut through second class spirits, third class ones will take some effort on your part to take down, and a fourth class would find you less than insignificant."

"Wonderful." Harry griped, before sighing. "Can you scout out the area around me, see what sort of spirits are around here?"

"Of course, master, I will return momentarily." The shade bowed to Harry, before drifting off.

While it was gone, Harry once more went over what the shade had told him. He was... somewhat uncomfortable with the whole 'devouring' thing with the souls, but if it was just their _power_, and not their _minds_, their sense of self, he could accept it, or at least he _would_ accept it once he'd properly thought through everything.

The fact that he'd been so _weak_ against them, that was harder for Harry to accept. It was one thing to know magic wouldn't work, simply _didn't exist_, on the Astral Plane. It was another thing entirely to understand and experience it.

He couldn't enhance his strength or speed with magic here. He couldn't feel the magic near him, couldn't feel it react when something came near. He couldn't use _any_ of his spells here, not offensive ones, defensive ones, or even support spells. He had none of his golems here. On the Astral Plane, he was little more than a child, and it was only his Wraith-blade and Shadow Bolt that separated him from being such a thing.

He _hated_ feeling this weak, and like he had done before, he would make sure to address that problem.

As he tried to think of ways to become stronger, the shade had returned to report to Harry.

"The dormitories above us are mostly filled with class one and two spirits, primarily sluagh. The main section of the castle, however, has several third class spirits wandering around, mostly revenants." The shade seemed to be contemplating something, and it only took a little prompting from Harry to get it to elaborate.

"I was expecting something... more." The shade told him. "Sluagh are scavengers, and for them to be so numerous here... there is something wrong with this castle, though I do not know what exactly that may be. Nevertheless, this is good news for you, master, it gives you plenty of low class spirits to fight and devour, and right now, they are _all_ you are capable of fighting."

"Okay, give me a moment's break and I'll clear out the dormitories." Harry agreed. "No more than a couple of hours though, I need to be up for classes tomorrow after all."

"Very well, master. Rest up, and when you are ready, I will direct you to the first group of spirits." The shade bowed once more.

xxxxx

The next morning, after a spar with Bast, Harry sat down to eat his breakfast. Open next to his plate, was his Tome of Shadows. He was adding to it right now, creating a bestiary of all the spirit creatures he was aware of, separated into categories. The primary categories were the seven classes of spirits that his shade had told him about the previous night. These categories were further divided into 'low', 'mid', and 'high' for each class.

The only thing Harry had in low first class at the moment was wisps as, basically, there really wasn't anything lower than them. A wisp was little more than a small packet of energy that floated around looking like a firefly or something like it.

Harry had encountered three more types of class one spirit last night, two 'mid' and one 'high' class spirits. One of the mid-class spirits had been 'killed' pretty much by accident when Harry had prodded it with his Wraith-blade, as he had thought it was weird looking. It had looked like a mushroom with a flat top and looked completely non-threatening, but apparently it wasn't completely so, as the flat top of the 'mushroom' had snapped shut on his Wraith-blade like a bear trap would. That meant it pretty much committed suicide.

The other mid-first class spirit had looked like a small jellyfish randomly bobbing through the air. Once again, it wasn't very threatening, nor was it particularly fast, and was overall more of a nuisance than anything else. It had been easily taken care of though, and had been devoured by Harry's Wraith-blade all the same.

The high-first class, however, had been far more interesting. Granted, it had looked like a patch of mould, but had moved. It sort of slid across the walls, floor, and ceiling, and it had attacked with... well, tentacles. It had been one of the most absurd things Harry had ever seen, as its grey-green body had bubbled, before the tentacles erupted from it in a rather nauseating manner.

The second class spirits seemed far more 'regular' to Harry. There were many sluagh there, but there were also other creatures, some quadrupeds, like ill-formed dogs in some cases, and other bipedal creatures. One such creature seemed to be little more than a mass of fat on two short stubby legs. There were no eyes or anything, but it did have an absolutely massive mouth on top of its body, large enough to swallow a human whole, and he had seen it devour a sluagh like that, when one of its four arms grabbed one and shoved it in there.

Harry shook his head, hoping he didn't look as ill as he felt at that particular memory. He decided to distract himself by taking a break from writing up profiles – and in some cases coming up with appropriate names – for each of these spirits. Instead, he looked over what classes he had that day.

He had double defence first, with Hufflepuff. He then had a free period, followed by a single period of charms, and after lunch he had double history. That... didn't seem too bad actually. From what he'd heard, the fourth years had enjoyed their lessons with Lupin, and charms shouldn't be too bad.

History was a blessing in disguise if Harry was honest with himself. Binns apparently repeated the same lectures year after year, and when he'd discovered that, Harry had been quick to buy a copy of a seventh year's notes and had added them to his tome. Binns wouldn't notice if he did something else during lesson, as long as he wasn't _too_ obvious about it, and he wanted to look at some of the Mahotokouro coursework he'd been sent to see how much of it made sense to him.

His mind now focused on something less disgusting than the spirits he'd 'encountered' the previous night, Harry happily munched on his breakfast, prepared for the day of lessons he had coming.

xxxxx

Harry, amongst others, lined up outside the Defence classroom after breakfast. However, Lupin didn't seem to be in at present, and a quick spell revealed he really wasn't there, which was a little strange. Harry hadn't seen Lupin at breakfast, and for a moment, he contemplated telepathically contacting Loki to see if his spells could pick the werewolf up.

However, this proved entirely unnecessary, as it was only moments later that the man himself turned a corner and came into view. He gave the children a small smile, before beckoning for them to follow him. His nose did twitch when he saw Bast though, was he perhaps allergic to cats or something? Perhaps he'd smelled a scent that surprised him.

Anyway, they followed their professor to wherever they were going, encountering Peeves on the way. The poltergeist seemed to be rather rude towards Remus, more so than Harry had expected, but a quick spell from the man – one Harry made sure to memorise to look up later – had that issue sorted, and they continued on again.

They ended up outside of what Harry knew to be one of the staff rooms scattered throughout the castle. In particular, this one was considered the 'main' staffroom, and the one the professors tended to gather together in when they had something they needed to discuss. The other staff rooms were less often used, and usually by a small group of teachers who had classrooms near each other and couldn't be bothered going any further away during break times.

Inside the room... was Severus Snape.

A quick humorous thought flickered through Harry's mind at the sight, a joke as to whether they were going to be learning to defend themselves against him. It had Reinforce giggling if nothing else.

Snape's cold, dark eyes swept over the group before he rose to his feet. He silently made his way out of the room, but paused in the doorway, looking back to the teacher.

"I should warn you, Lupin, this class contains Harry _Ritter_." It was quite obvious the stress the dark-haired man put on his surname. "It's all too likely that unexpected things will happen, watch yourself."

Lupin took a moment to reply, but he managed to get a handful of words out before Snape disappeared. "I know who my students are, thank you, Professor Snape, but I'm sure my lesson will go fine. Perhaps I will even gain some insight into certain... things."

Severus eyes' seemed to regard Remus with a strange mixture of disdain, loathing, hatred, distaste, and... approval? Harry had expected the other emotions to be there, but why would Snape think positively about Lupin?

Regardless, it was only for a moment, because immediately afterwards he stalked out of the room, the door closing behind him.

Remus smiled once more at the class, before levitating a wardrobe from the corner of the room into the middle of one wall, with the doors facing towards them. He smiled once more – he seemed to be doing a lot of that – and chuckled slightly when most of the class jumped a bit when the wardrobe rattled and shook.

"Don't worry, it's just a boggart in there." He told them, despite a number of students looking at him as if that _was_ something to worry about. "Now, first things first, who can tell me what a boggart is?"

Several students raised their hands, including Harry. Remus seemed conflicted for a moment, before deciding to call on Harry for an answer.

"Boggarts are shape-shifters often mistaken for spirits." Harry told him. "They have a passive mind-reading ability that can penetrate any known Occlumency shields, allowing them to take a form that embodies someone's truest fear. They don't get it perfectly correct every time, however, because some fears aren't easily shown visually, such as a fear of being alone, or a fear of a secret being discovered."

While he spoke, Harry let a few zombie bugs leave his sleeves behind his back. He directed them towards the wardrobe where the boggart was being kept and had them enter through the tiniest space between the doors and the frame. Unfortunately, it was too dark for even Harry's bugs to see anything – or perhaps the boggart was invisible to their eyes? It could even be that the boggart simply didn't react to insects, even ones controlled by a human (or human-like) mind.

"A very thorough answer, and much more than I was expecting." Remus praised Harry. "Now, can anyone tell me what advantage we have over the boggart in that wardrobe? Miss Takamachi, would you care to answer?"

"There's more of us than there is of them." Nanoha answered. "We aren't all scared of exactly the same thing, so it doesn't know what to turn into for the greatest effect. If there was more boggarts, would they each transform into something different to scare different people?"

"Correct, and an interesting question." Lupin responded. "I don't know what multiple boggarts would do myself, as I am unaware of there ever being a case where two boggarts have worked together. They are very territorial and would sooner drive each other off than team up."

"Now, there actually is a spell used to fight boggarts, 'Ridikkulus'. The way to defeat one is laughter, and that spell, along with a strong mental image, will force it into a form you can more easily laugh at. There is no wand movement for this spell, and it is very easy as long as you have a good idea of what you want it to look like. All together now, 'Ridikkulus'."

The class echoed the professor's word as one, earning yet _another_ smile from the man.

"Now, if you'd all care to line up, I'll open the wardrobe and you can practise the spell on an actual boggart." Lupin told them.

Harry, in no particular rush to face the boggart, ended up at the back of the line. While he waited, when he wasn't looking to see what forms the boggart was taking, he was thinking about what exactly frightened him, and therefore what form his boggart would take. However, he wasn't really sure what it was he feared, so perhaps facing the boggart would be quite... informative.

He doubted he had the same fears as his classmates, as the first student was faced with a zombie, the second with some kind of swamp monster, and the third with... Jason Voorhees? Weren't thirteen year olds a little young to be watching horror films? Not that Harry could talk, enjoying said films himself quite a bit, and often being inspired by them too.

After that, it was Hayate's turn, and Harry focused here, ready to comfort her if she needed it.

Her boggart transformed into... a wheelchair? He supposed it was rather fitting really, he seriously doubted Hayate had enjoyed being crippled, and now that she had regained the freedom of walking, running, and jumping, it would be all that much worse if she had to return to such a state.

She transformed it into a tricycle, before going to the back of the room. Her eyes seemed slightly wet, but she managed to smile widely when Harry made eye contact with her.

There were some more rather generic fears after that – and a couple of odd ones too, like an old tyre, that one had made no sense to Harry – before Fate was up, with Nanoha right behind her.

The red-eyed girl braced herself before approaching the boggart, and seemed totally unsurprised when it took the form of her biological mother, Presea Testarossa. However, she seemed to be somewhat surprised by the blonde girl in the older woman's arms whom she was smiling warmly at, to the exclusion of all else.

At first glance, the girl appeared to be a perfect duplicate of Fate. However, for those that knew her, there were ever so slight differences. Her posture was slightly different, her eyes seemed to dance with joy, and she almost seemed to radiate a sort of care free aura.

Obviously, this was supposed to be Alicia, the girl that Fate had been cloned from.

Fate's fringe fell in front of her face, as she raised her wand. She shook a little at the happy, innocent scene before here, before speaking the spell. Her voice was flat, not like her usual soft tone, but like she was keeping it from slipping. She hurried to the back of the room, not looking at what she'd turned her boggart into, where Hayate comforted her.

Nanoha, seeing how her friend had been affected, decided to hurry her way through her boggart in order to go and comfort Fate. Steeling herself and looking determined, she stepped up to the boggart, wanting to hurry up and get this over and done with so she could help Fate.

Once again, the meaning behind this boggart's form wasn't immediately apparent. In front of Nanoha stood a copy of herself, but obviously different. This Nanoha's face was blank and listless, lacking expression. She was dressed in plain, drab grey clothes, a top and a skirt, and had her hands cupped in front of her. In her hands, she held the only colour she possessed, fragments of a jewel, the shattered remains of what was obviously supposed to be Raising Heart.

Ah, of course, Nanoha's fear was being helpless. Not just that, she feared not having any direction. She was a very driven girl, always doing something, always trying to help as much as she could. She couldn't stand doing nothing, having no purpose other than simply existing.

Nanoha seemed to understand exactly what she was seeing, and a quick spell had her boggart wearing her Barrier Jacket, with a cheery grin on her face, and Raising Heart in its staff form in her hands. Once this was done, Nanoha rushed to Fate in order to comfort the upset girl.

From where he was, Harry offered his own sympathies as much as he could, and even went so far as to initiate a telepathic link with his blonde friend. He and Reinforce tried to sing a happy song together over the mental link. Judging from Fate's strangled laughter, they managed to succeed somewhat at least.

It was only a few moments later that Harry realised he was now in front of the boggart himself. He prepared imself for it taking some form as to indicate his secret getting out, he prepared himself to see his familiars, friends, and Reinforce dead, he prepared himself to see something gruesome and horrific.

He did _not_ prepare himself for what he actually got though.

It hovered in the air in front of him, roughly the size and shape of a playing card. It was a pale blue colour, edged with an even paler, almost white, blue. There was a symmetrical design on it, almost like wings and crescent moons, either side of a blue gem embedded in the card.

_Durandal_

_Staff of Freeze – Durandal_

An extremely powerful Storage Device optimised for freezing opponents, optimised to such a level in fact that it had been sealed away by order of the higher ups of the TSAB after the Book of Darkness incident. It was so good at freezing spells that it had been designed to forever seal away the Book of Darkness, along with its wielder.

It was a device created for one purpose, a purpose that would see Reinforce suffer for all eternity.

Harry blanked out for a moment, and only a gasp brought himself back to reality. He focused on what was in front of him, and found the boggart, still in the form of Durandal's standby mode, impaled on a wavy sword, a familiar sword at that.

He blinked once more and looked to his own two hands that held the hilt of his Wraith-blade that was now pinning the boggart to the wall as the almost-spirit _screamed_ in complete and utter agony.

It dissipated, and before he could see it absorbed into the blade, Harry turned tail and fled from the classroom.

His mind was numb.

He did _not_ want to think about what had just happened.

He did not want to contemplate what it meant.

He didn't want to think at all.


	16. Ware the Reaper

AN: A shorter chapter than the last few, I know, but it seemed to end fairly well where it did. Now, some people may have noticed that I've laced this story with a few threads that _could_ lead into further cross-overs. I have been contemplating, when this fic finishes, writing a few off-shoots that end in other worlds. Like, if there was an accident with Hermione's time turner (as happened in my first ever fic, Fate's Gamble), and Harry and Hermione ended up in the Naruto-verse, or something like that. I've left something in this chapter that could lead to Harry being in the Warcraft-verse (Though I'm far more familiar with Warcraft 3 than I am World of Warcraft), and some other things. There's also a way for me to end up crossing this with the Legacy of Kain series, if I so wished. Now, while that's not happening right now, I do take influences from lots of sources, so don't be surprised if you see something a bit familiar. Also, because I've ben asked 'what's a clanger?' so many times, it's a character from an early seventies show called 'the Clangers', go look it up if you want to see what they look like. It's not really important, it was just an amusing thought I had.

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 16 – 'Ware the Reaper

Albus Dumbledore, his hands clasped on the desk in front of him, looked around at his teachers. Most of them were already here, they were in fact only waiting for Aurora, Severus, and Sybill, and the wards told Dumbledore they would be here shortly.

What the wards _weren't _telling him, however, was where one Harry Ritter, formerly Potter, was. That was unusual in itself, as his rather unique magical signature normally stood out quite a bit. Two of his familiars' signature's regularly disappeared from the wards too, but because of where they were before they vanished, he had a good idea that they went to the Chamber of Secrets, so at least they were somewhere he was aware of.

Dumbledore knew the boy hadn't left the school via the gates or one of the secret passageways, no, he'd seemingly simply... vanished. Unfortunately, there had been no portraits near that location for Dumbledore to interrogate, and all of the ghosts in the school were proving to be rather tight-lipped regarding _anything_ to do with him.

Dumbledore was worried.

Oh, he didn't overly care that Harry was some sort of undead being, he was a _magical_ being after all, no matter what he was, and magic was slowly dying out. Dumbledore would be an idiot if he discarded _any_ magical being simply due to what they were. Even dark families, such as the Lestranges, Malfoys, Carrows, and the rest were needed, as without them the wizarding population would be even more drastically reduced.

What Dumbledore was most concerned about was the name 'Harry' had chosen once he'd been removed from the Potter family. 'Ritter' might not ring any warning bells in most peoples' minds, but to Dumbledore it was rather too close to a merge of 'Potter' and 'Riddle', and Tom had so loved his word games, his pseudonym, Lord Voldemort, had come from an anagram after all.

Dumbledore looked up and re-focused once all of his staff were in the room. With a disarming, grandfatherly smile, he began.

"The start of a new year, and already our students are full of energy. Now, before I start, is there anything that anyone would like to say?" Dumbledore cheerily asked.

"I've got a question actually." Tiny Professor Flitwick stated. "Remus, did anything unusual happen in your lesson. The students that came to me afterwards seemed rather subdued, and one of them didn't turn up at all, which is rather unusual for that one."

Flitwick did enjoy teaching Harry, because once he'd finished the assigned task, he would often ask for something that wasn't usually on the syllabus or something that was more advanced. Flitwick loved to teach, and being able to instruct and discuss some of the more esoteric charms was quite enjoyable in his opinion.

"Ah, yes, I can see why that'd might happen." Remus seemed a little sheepish. "My first lesson was on boggarts, so they might have still been thinking about their fears and things."

Severus snorted. "And like an idiot you had them confront their boggarts in front of the entire class rather than in private, because _obviously_ they would appreciate their deepest fears and traumas being put on display like that." He drawled, sneering at the werewolf as he did so.

"Boggarts? As a first lesson and with no preparation?" Bathsheba stared at Lupin. "Are you mad, man?! If you were going to do dark creatures, you should probably have started out with something less dangerous, or at least less mentally traumatising. I can imagine some students might have a few rather unpleasant fears, especially considering how many of them are orphans or have single parents."

"I thought that it might help them with that, confronting boggarts and turning them into something you can laugh at is supposed to be good therapy." Lupin admitted.

"Perhaps so, but maybe you should have kept it for a second lesson, after having one on just what boggarts are, hmm?" Dumbledore scolded him. "However, what's done is done, though I feel I must ask, was there any particularly bad or unusual fears?"

"Most of them were standard things, spiders, scary monsters, things like that. I can only think of five that were a little different, and I'm not too sure what a rubber tyre could mean at all." Lupin replied. "The four strange ones were, oddly, from the three Japanese transfers and Harry... Ritter."

"Do you think there's a connection there?" Dumbledore asked, but Remus shook his head.

"I think the four of them know each other, and have done for a while at least, but not because of the girls' boggarts. The Yagami girl had a wheelchair as her boggart, and I've managed to find out that she was once crippled, which explains that at least. She didn't seem too affected by it though." He told them.

"And the other two girls?" Dumbledore questioned.

"The Takamachi girl had herself as a boggart, but she was wearing plain grey clothes, and had something of a lost expression on her face. She held some sort of broken red jewel in her hands. I have no idea what that referred to. The Harlaown girl's fear was stranger though, it was her being hugged by a dark-haired woman." Remus continued.

"Do we have a name for this woman?" Dumbledore asked, but Remus replied in the negative.

"I didn't get a chance to ask her about it. I thought maybe she was being abused at home, and that might have been her mother, but after Harry's boggart, there was a bit of chaos, and I didn't have the opportunity to ask." Remus sighed.

"I'll report that to the DMLE, and we'll see what the investigation uncovers." Dumbledore responded. "Now, what was Mr. Ritter's boggart?"

"A card." Remus replied, confusion clear in his voice. He drew his wand and tapped a quill in his pocket, transfiguring it into the likeness of Harry's boggart. "It looked like this, and I have absolutely no idea what it means. However, I did notice that the three Japanese girls recognised it as well."

"How did Harry respond to seeing that?" Septima asked, her concern for her friend making her slip, addressing Harry a lot more informally than she normally would have in a meeting.

"He conjured a strange sword and attacked it." Remus told her. "I have no clue what exactly the spell he used was, but whatever it was, it destroyed the boggart. All that was left was a small pile of wet mulch that I've put in a bag, but the way the boggart screamed..." Remus shuddered, remembering it. "I've never heard anything like it before." He shook himself, getting back on track. "After that, he fled the room and I haven't seen him since."

Dumbledore sighed. "The wards have no idea where he is either, it's like he suddenly stopped existing, and when I try and track him, even using the book of students, it doesn't work either. I've never heard of such a thing happening before."

"Would his familiars not know where he is?" Mcgonagall asked.

"They refuse to answer." Remus said. "I get the feeling they don't like me very much."

"His familiars are loyal to Harry above all else, Remus, I wouldn't worry about it." Flitwick comforted the man. "If they're not panicking, it's probably safe to assume that the young Mr. Ritter is alright, wherever he is, and we should continue on with things. It's not like he's going to fall behind in classes, I'm already having trouble finding things for him to do when he asks me for something extra."

Dumbledore frowned. "Very well then, that may be for the best. However, if he doesn't turn up in a few days, we really do need to look into things. I know boggarts can be emotionally unsettling, but he can't hide away forever. Now, is there anything else that anyone would like to discuss?"

Pomona Sprout stepped forward "I've got two cases of home sickness, headmaster, but it's being handled in house. Also..."

xxxxx

A slice of a blade cut off the yip of a ghostly grey dog as Harry cut it in two with his Wraith-blade.

Around him, the 'corpses' of numerous spirits slowly dissolved as he focused on the next one to attack him, and the one after that, and the one after that, again and again. He didn't know exactly how long he'd remained on the Astral Plane this time, but he knew it must have been a fair number of hours.

Strangely, he did not grow tired. After all, while he did bring his physical body with him, he was essentially a spirit himself right now, and while spirits could become weighed down mentally, there was no limit to their stamina. Right now, that was both a blessing and a curse, allowing him to keep going and keep his mind blank, yet not letting him become weary enough to need rest.

Driving his Wraith-blade up to the hilt through one more sluagh, Harry turned to face his next opponent, only to see there were none left.

He collapsed onto the cold, bluish-grey coloured grass beneath him. It seemed to almost stroke him, as if it was more than simply plant matter, and with this being the Astral Plane, it likely was.

"Perhaps you should take a small break, master." His shade, which had shadowed him while he remained on the Astral Plane, suggested.

"Perhaps." Harry murmured. "Still, I can't get that... boggart out of my mind. Durandal, such an innocuous form, yet for some reason something in me utterly rejects the damn thing. Logically, I know that I hate it because of what it represents, forever taking Reinforce from me, but this hatred, loathing, and _fear_ of it seems to be far deeper."

"I have no advice to give you, master." The shade responded. "All I can do is speak of what I know, and these 'boggarts' are of the Material Realm, not the Astral Plane. I can give you no insight regarding anything there, and I know little of the Underworld."

"The Underworld?" Harry asked, attempting to take his mind off of his boggart.

"Another layer of reality, like the Astral and Material worlds are, inhabited by beings most often referred to as demons." The shade answered him. "With Planes-walking, you could travel there, but I do not know how advisable such a thing would be. As I said, my knowledge of the Underworld is limited."

"Tell me, what do you know?" Harry requested.

The shade did not reply immediately, probably gathering its thoughts, not that Harry minded.

"The Underworld is a place of extremes. Whereas the Astral Plane is mostly changeless, the Underworld is constantly in flux. What might be a lake of lave one day, may become an obsidian mountain within a few months. It is a place of extremes, having both unforgiving deserts and frozen glaciers, with very few places being anywhere close to 'mild'.

"As for the demons themselves, they're a bit different to Astral spirits. They are born from various things; emotions, concepts, ideas, and a plethora of other abstract things. However, similar origins will always result in the same beings. For example, lust-born demons are almost all some form of succubus, incubus, or yaksha and yakshini. There _are_ variations and off-shoots though, those which become akin to sirens, harpies, and so on.

"These deviations occur due to subtle deviations in the energy that creates them. 'Lust' is not a simple emotion, despite it being relatively simple to define. It can be tainted by envy, longing, jealousy, rage, and so many other things. Only 'pure' lust can give birth to the strongest of succubi."

"Yaksha and Yakshini are... Indian, unless I'm much mistaken." Harry regarded his shade curiously, wondering about its origins before shaking his head. "No matter, what can you tell me about a demon's alignment? Are they all vicious 'monsters', or do they have more depth than that?"

"The latter." His shade told him. "While it is true that the Underworld is a harsh place where only the strongest tend to survive, not all demons are ravenous beasts. There is an infinite range of ways demons can be born, and that means its possible for demons to be born from, or have their energies tainted by, compassion and other similar things. However, most of the demons born this way are devoured by their more ruthless kin in an eternal struggle for more power."

"I see." Harry sighed. "That sounds depressing."

"I would not know." His shade replied. "I have never been to the Underworld, and what I have told you is the extent of my knowledge of that place."

Harry glanced towards the castle, as he was currently out on the grounds, to see the angular, somewhat twisted version of the school that existed on the Astral Plane. Hell, even though it was a little different to the material castle, he could still easily tell which windows were for which classrooms.

As his gaze drifted past where he knew the Ancient Runes classroom was, Harry frowned, recalling a book of wizarding fairy tales he'd read recently. Deciding to ask his shade a few more questions while he rested, he questioned it on whether there was some form of 'Death' entity on the Astral Plane.

"No, there is no singular entity that identifies itself as 'Death'." The shade told him. "However, there is a type of Class four spirit often referred to as 'Reapers' due to their resemblance of the fifteenth century personification of a cloaked figure with a scythe."

"Do they collect souls at all?" Harry wondered.

"After a fashion, yes." The shade confirmed. "Not all of those that die become spirits, and the Reapers collect these failures themselves. No one quite knows why they do this, it is simply something they always have done, and likely always will. May I ask why you wish to know about them?"

"I read the tales of Beedle the Bard recently." Harry told it. "One of the stories, however, got me wondering about it. The Tale of Three Brothers, do you know it?" The shade replied in the negative. "Well, in it Death gives three wizards artefacts that related to itself, an unbeatable wand, a stone that can recall the dead, and a cloak that can hide one from Death itself."

"You believe that these items exist?" The shade mused. "And you wondered if they were somehow connected to the Astral Plane?"

"I did wonder, yes." Harry chuckled. "There's also some 'evidence' for the artefacts existing. For the wand, a lot of dark lords have claimed to possess an elder wand that can't be defeated, though references of it disappear around World War Two with Grindlewald. I have reason to believe that Dumbledore, the one who defeated Grindlewald, may be in possession of it.

"The cloak, however, is almost certainly real. Invisibility cloaks do exist, but most of them fail after a few years, they rip or tear, the spells on them fail, or something else happens to them. However, the cloak currently in my possession is at least a decade old, though I and Rein believe it to be truly ancient. Not to mention, she can't replicate the magic in it for some reason."

"And the stone?" The shade asked.

"I don't know." Harry responded. "I've got this idea that I've seen proof of it somewhere, but I can't think where that might be. I mean, something that calls up souls, even incomplete ones..." Harry paused there.

"Incomplete souls?" He murmured, before palming his face. "Now I know where I've seen it, the ring horcrux has the symbol of the Deathly Hallows etched into it! Why the hell haven't I collected that horcrux yet?"

The shade regarded Harry for a moment, before glancing between him and the castle. "Shall we collect it now?" It asked. "You've already missed lessons, and you are quite far ahead of your classmates, so you will not fall behind. I must also admit, I am... curious about your suspicions regarding these 'Deathly Hallows'."

Harry got to his feet. "Well, no time like the present, and I am feeling a little reckless right now."

"Indeed." The shade chuckled in its low, rasping voice.

Harry smiled, ever so slightly, at that. He stepped back into the Material World and prepared a Dimensional Transfer spell to take them to Little Hangleton. However, just before it activated, he clenched his fists and looked down at his arm.

Those emotions with the boggart, that fear, hatred, and utter loathing.

Could it be... NachtWal?

xxxxx

After arriving in Little Hangleton, Harry and his shade immediately made for the old Gaunt hovel. He _did_ mentally talk with Reinforce and his familiars on the way, as they had realised he was back in the Material World due to the connection they shared with him.

He comforted them, telling them that he was okay, and while the form the boggart had taken had shocked him, he would be fine given just a little more time. He did not, however, tell any of them about his slight suspicions regarding NachtWal, and while Reinforce could easily tell he was hiding something from her, she did not pressure him about it.

Once they arrived at the Gaunt 'home', Harry sent his shade on ahead to check things out. While the memories ripped out of the horcruxes he already had, the diary and diadem, told him exactly what defences were placed here, he was not going to be foolish enough to ignore the possibility of there being more that had been added at a later time.

The shade returned soon enough, reporting that it had not noticed any additional protections.

Nodding his head, Harry stepped forwards. He cast counter-curses to halt the curses Voldemort had trapped the place with, stepped in the correct places to avoid the traps laid into the ground, and destroyed the anchors for some of the more troublesome magic.

All in all, it looked almost like Harry danced across the clearing in front of the shack, following a twisting and winding path that Voldemort had designed rather like a muggle minefield. In fact, judging by the memories, that was _exactly_ what this particular defence was based on.

Once he was at the door, Harry _didn't_ immediately open it. Instead, he gave a Parseltongue password to the rather pitiful remains of a snake nailed to the door, waited for the correct response, and then pushed the side of the door _opposite_ the handle to open it.

Once inside, Harry cast a spell to flip all of the floorboards upside down, as the topside was coating in a rather unpleasant potion, and then headed towards the chimney breast. Now, here Voldemort would use an animation charm to make something fetch the horcrux for him, but Harry instead conjured a clanger.

That was, of course, simply personal preference.

As Small Clanger walked into the fireplace and began to climb up to get the horcrux from where it was ensconced, Harry once again began to wonder about how he might get hold of the rest of the horcruxes. Voldemort's memories made it quite clear he intended to make six, but Harry only had two of them, soon three, and no means of hunting down the others.

_'Perhaps these 'Reaper' spirits my shade mentioned could help.'_ Harry thought for a moment, but then again, he didn't know if horcruxes counted for the drifting remains of dead people that they apparently collected.

The magical copy of a clanger soon returned and presented the ring to Harry. He did not immediately pick it up, however, regardless of the compulsion on it to do so. He knew the last defence on the ring was a rather nasty withering curse that activated on contact with living flesh.

Unfortunately, Voldemort apparently knew no way of countering it, and neither did Harry. On the other hand, the curse was attached to the metal setting, not the stone embedded in it. Knowing that, it didn't take long to pry the stone out of its setting, pocketing the metal band to put with the other horcruxes later. Transfiguring a pebble into the likeness of the ring, and adding an explosive trap of his own, Harry sent the clanger to put the new ring in the place of the old one.

On the way out of the shack, Harry reconstructed all of the protections that Riddle had originally put in place, mimicking Voldemort's magical signature as much as he was capable of. Hopefully it was close enough that, if Riddle ever did return, he wouldn't notice the difference, and would hopefully set off Harry's own trap on the new ring, which would then cause a chain reaction in the other protections Riddle had in place.

One could hope after all.

Once past all of the defences, Harry immediately teleported to the planet he constructed his golems on, and then had his shade examine the 'potential' resurrection stone. While it did so, Harry continued his construction of his latest, and potentially last, set of golems, Pleiades the Mage Sisters.

All of the mechanisms that allowed them to cast different spells had already been made, and four of the bodies had too. They were taking longer than they otherwise might because there needed to be 'channels' made to carry the mana from their cores to their hands and feet, where the spells were cast from. It was like making a very rudimentary circulatory system for mana instead of blood.

"Hmm, it seems you were right to be curious regarding Reaper spirits, master." The shade informed Harry once it had finished investigating the stone. "There seems to be one... somehow trapped inside this strange stone."

"Will breaking it have any effect on the spirit?" Harry asked.

"If you used your Wraith-blade, most definitely. If you mean physically breaking the container... I do not believe so. In fact, that may well be the easiest way to release the spirit. However, I do not think this stone will break easily." The shade informed him.

Harry shrugged, before asking. "Is the Reaper aware of the outside, can we speak to it?"

"She, master, unlike shades, Reapers do have genders, though they do not reproduce as the living do." The shade told him. "As for your question, no, she is not aware of the outside world. Perhaps at one point she was, but right now she is slumbering."

"Do you think trying to break the stone is a good idea, is the reaper likely to attack me if I do?" Harry asked.

"She seems too weak to do much right now, most likely due to being trapped in that stone for so long." The shade answered.

"Well, let's see what I can do then." Harry sighed, conjuring a large war hammer as he did so.

He placed the resurrection stone on flat ground, hardened it as much as he could with magic, reinforced his conjured weapon as well, and then swung down at the black stone with a two-handed blow.

Even with magically enhanced strength, however, all he managed to do was jar his arms which took the full shock of the blow. Wincing, he rubbed at his arms, and decided on a different approach. Shaping the ground into a bowl shape, he cast as many explosive and blasting spells as he knew from Terran magic at the stone.

It survived every last one.

Clicking his tongue, Harry brought out his tome and began searching for more potent blasting spells, or pretty much anything that caused physical destruction. Casting these, at the stone proved just as ineffective as the ones he already knew. Deciding that he might as well, he refined his search, and began looking for any dark magic that might work.

He found a couple, but one stood out. Granted, its stated purpose was for use on castles and other similar structures, collapsing the foundations in spite of any wards in place and preventing repairing or reconstruction spells from working. The only problem was the sheer amount of mana required for the spell.

Well, that was a problem for a regular, witch or wizard, not for one with the reserves Harry had.

Harry took a few steps back from the stone, activated his Device, and had it take the form of a halberd. His Tome of Shadows floated next to him, open at the page regarding the dark spell he was about to attempt, and feeding the appropriate data into his Device.

Goodness was Harry glad to get that link sorted out!

A purplish black orb gathered just in front of Harry's Device, charging up the necessary magic to cast the spell. All the while, Harry rapidly altered the calculations his staff was generating, refining the spell, keeping the quantity of mana steady while limiting the blast radius to increase the overall effect.

Once the spell was released, it shot like a bullet right at the resurrection stone and stayed there. Looking at it was like looking at an intense thunderstorm all going on in an area the size of a basketball, though anyone even the slightest bit sensitive to magic would tell you of the ridiculous amount of mana that was focused into the small space.

Once the spell had ended, Harry was pleased to see that the stone had been turned into little more than shiny black fragments. However, he could not see the Reaper spirit anywhere.

"Master, direct Tiet to your eyes, it seems this Reaper is too weak to even appear before human eyes." His shade instructed him, and Harry immediately did as it said.

Channelling Tiet to his eyes made Harry rather dizzy for a few moments. Once he got over that though, he saw the world in black and white – a side effect of the Tiet perhaps? - but what he did see was the ragged, black cloak sprawled out on the ground before him.

Peeking out from the cloak was a black, skeleton arm, and off to the side was a dark-coloured scythe. Harry focused on the obvious cracks in the skeleton's arm, and falling to his knees, he began casting what spells he knew that would fix the problem, the most basic being the bone-knitting spell.

Amazingly, it worked. Harry had partially expected it to fail due to Astral spirits and magic not usually working together. It seemed though that being on the Material Plane allowed the Reaper to be fixed up using magical means, which was something Harry made a mental note of.

Harry saw the cloak twitch slightly, and quietly levitated the scythe further out of reach. He did _not_ need this spirit attacking him as soon as she was capable of it. Yes, she was a Class four spirit, meaning she had above human abilities, but Harry believed that the magical enhancement spells he had active should be able to at least allow him to match her, especially given she was most definitely not in good condition.

He jerked back just in time to prevent the reaper strangling him barehanded.

"_Human!_" She growled out, dim red eyes glowing in the sockets of her skull. "_What new torture have you envisioned for me now!?_" She snarled at him in a strange double-toned voice.

Harry stepped back a moment, still healing what he could of the spirit's injuries. He was going to be wary of her, no doubt, it was likely only due to how weak she was right now that, after her first failed attack, she had not continued to assault him.

"No torture, I assure you." Harry's words earned a scoff from the reaper. "I retrieved the artefact you were sealed inside, and my shade told me that a spirit was trapped in there. I destroyed the stone, and now you're here. As you can probably tell, all I've done to you is heal what damage I can."

The reaper's eyes slid to the shade. "_A damned shadow, eh?_" She noted. "_Is what you're master said true?_"

"For the most part, yes." The shade answered her. "He had read an old magical fairy tale and asked me if there was a singular 'Death' entity on the Astral Plane. I corrected him, and from there we discussed the three items from the tale, eventually leading to us retrieving the ring you were trapped inside."

"_Tell me this 'story'_." The reaper demanded, her red eyes focused on Harry.

Harry did so, telling her the tale of the three brothers. He watched her closely for any reaction, and noticed he got one whenever he mentioned one of the Deathly Hallows, as well as the river and the bridge. She showed satisfaction at the deaths of two of the brothers, though the youngest's didn't seem to please her.

"Now, could you tell me how true this story is?" Harry asked.

"_I suppose I could, in thanks for freeing me and fixing my bones._" The Reaper agreed hesitantly. "_There was a river, myself and my brothers collected many souls that died in and near that river, and there was some sort of creature that lived nearby, on the Material Plane, that killed a great many as well._

_I... remember the three brothers, as arrogant as a Pit Lord, all three of them. There was some sort of ritual, I think, or random distortion in the fabric of the worlds, I can't remember clearly. Regardless, my siblings and I ended up on the Material Plane unexpectedly and disorientated. The brothers planned it, I am sure. As blurry as my memory is, I recall some form of ritual circle that limited us, made us weaker than we should have been._"

The reaper looked down at her still damaged bones, the ones Harry had yet to get around to fixing, and an aura of sheer hate seemed to erupt around her.

"_I remember a sucking sensation, like a whirlpool or something, and then I was stuck in a tiny little prison. I presume it was that stone you mentioned destroying. I remember my power being leached away from me, and I remember lashing out, using all of the foul language I know. I tried to pull my power back to me, but I was only partially successful._

_Unfortunately, that left me drained, and with my power still being pulled from me, I fell into a powerless slumber until just now. The last thing I remember of that time was satisfaction, I'm fairly sure that was when the brother died and I managed to collect the remains of his soul after he died."_

"I see." Harry mused to himself. "Now, I have two things to say. Firstly, I'm fairly sure that I know where one of the other 'Deathly Hallows' is at, and I have my suspicions about another. Secondly, do you know what a horcrux is?" The reaper shook her head. "Well, it's where someone rips a piece of their soul off and stores it inside an object to prevent themselves dying."

The reaper scoffed. "_Foolish. Such a thing might keep you on the Material Plane longer than normal, but a fragmented soul has no hope of becoming any form of Astral spirit after death. I hope your second point isn't to request my help in creating such an artefact yourself?_"

"Hardly." Harry replied, feeling more at ease with the reaper now. "An enemy of mine has created multiple horcruxes, anywhere up to six, and I only have three of them. I was hoping you might know a way of tracking the other fragments down, as I don't know how to do so."

"_While I would love to collect this idiot's fragments, I know of no way to track them down. My kind are one of the most nomadic of the Astral Plane, __we merely collect the trash as we go. I know some of my kin linger in certain places, where death is common, as I and my brothers did, however I have been gone from the world so long I do not know who would be where, nor which may possess pertinent information._" The reaper told him.

"Damn, that's unfortunate." Harry sighed. "Just how the hell are we supposed to track these damn things down?"

The reaper gave him a look, which she really shouldn't be able to do, being a skeleton and all. "_Have you thought about it logically? Is there any pattern to where these objects have been discovered so far?_" She half-asked, half-suggest.

"Yes, actually." Harry answered. "One was given to a faithful follower of his, another was hidden in the school, and the one I just retrieved came from the house his mother once lived in. The Unspeakables are going over his history and highlighting likely places for him to have hidden others for me, but this all seems too easy. I mean, why hide them in such obvious places? It would be so much harder to track them down if he took even one of them out of the country."

"_Arrogance, perhaps, a failing of many mortals._" The reaper said. "_Confidence in his defences, maybe, or he might truly have taken one elsewhere, leaving most of them where one might expect them to be._"

Harry shook his head. "No, from what I know of him, Riddle likes dramatics, and enjoys tricks and games. His own pseudonym is from an anagram, his 'treasures' are hidden in places linked to his past, and he likes to show off in front of his followers. I swear, he'd probably have been quite the successful actor if he hadn't chosen to go dark lord."

"_Curious._" The reaper murmured. "_If he acts so, then how successful of a dark lord is he? Surely it would take someone more intelligent to truly become a threat?_"

"Hit and run tactics don't require much in the way of intelligence." Harry rolled his eyes. "He also has quite the library of spells available, though he also has a tendency towards a select few. The Unforgivables and Fiendfyre, a few dark curses, and that's about it. He does use them to great effect, I'll give him that though."

"_So the problem lies with his nigh-immortality due to his horcruxes, and his effective use of dangerous spells. Hit and run tactics are what he favours, and, I'm assuming, he avoids open combat if at all possible?_" The reaper questioned Harry.

"Yes, there was a handful of 'large' confrontations in his first 'rise' to power, not many. The Potters and the Longbottoms even matched him three times before getting away fully intact." Harry replied. "That can't have done his temper any favours.

"Now, while this is interesting and all that, I should really be heading back to school. I've missed a day's worth of classes, and I've left some people worrying about me, I'm certain." Harry looked to the reaper and offered his hand. "I can release you back to the Astral Plane if you wish, but just out of curiosity, would you be interested in a contract with me?"

The reaper didn't reply immediately, she merely regarded Harry silently for a few moments, before glancing down at her now mended bones. After a few moments, she sighed, and her bony hand clasped Harry's.

"_I'm weak right now, so weak I'd probably have trouble matching a Class three, so returning to the Astral Plane right now is likely not a good idea for me._" She stated, before her grip tightened on Harry's hand. "_I'll agree to your contract, so long as you understand this; if you __**ever **__even __**think**__ to trap me like the last one did, I will take great pleasure in destroying you as thoroughly as I can, and devouring what remains. Understand?_"

"I had no intention of it." Harry replied honestly. "Now, let's see if we can't at least do something about one of your brothers, if not both."


	17. A Wand

AN: Another shorter chapter, but if I wrote much more, it would have been twice the length of a regular chapter and it would mess me up quite a bit. There also was no easy way to transition from the end of this to the beginning of the next one, so you got this. Now, a couple of things; first off, I don't mean anything bad about Nanoha, but she comes across, to me at least, as a 'try to hard' sort of person, so that's what is supposed to be conveyed in the appropriate section below (you'll know it when you read it), and I know from personal experience that such people can be rather... grating at times, but hey! These are children, they're people, what sort of real person is perfect in every way, shape, and form? Harry is secretive, and at times a bit reckless, Fate can be too submissive at times, Chrono can be a bit arrogant, Nanoha is rather stubborn, Hayate can be rather in your face, and so on and so forth. Flaws are awesome! Flaws are what make characters into characters, rather than caricatures, or angels, or whatever. Another thing is that I know I'm diverging quite a bit from the books now, and making my own stuff up as I go along, and I'm not completely confident in my ability to give 'my' world enough depth. I beg you to please bear with me while I try and bring things to life, and that you have a little patience too. Third, has anyone any ideas what a good 'reapery' name would be, or at least some way to refer to them that flows better?

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 17 – A Wand

It was late at night, and only a handful of people were still awake in Hogwarts castle. The late evening prefect patrols had ended, and only two professors wandered the halls at night to search for the students who were out after curfew. There were some students still awake in their dormitories or common rooms, a few of whom were trying to finish their homework for classes the next day.

If one had the ability to see Astral spirits that were actively hiding from mortal eyes, they would have seen something rather unusual, a shade was wandering around the headmaster's office, as well as the rooms beyond it where the old man slept.

Once the shade had finished what it was doing, it left the room and floated up to the roof of the tower, where it found its master and two further Astral spirits, reapers this time. One reaper was the one that had been sealed inside what was known as the 'resurrection stone', while the other had been extracted from the 'cloak of invisibility', which was now nothing more than a rather nice bit of clothing.

"The wand is on his bedside table." The shade informed its master, Harry Ritter. "He is asleep, but there are a number of wards on the room to prevent entry. However, if you can get inside without setting them off, there's no further traps that I noticed."

"So, entry via the Astral Plane then?" Harry mused aloud. "Unless there's something there that's too much for me to handle."

"I checked." The shade replied. "The greatest threat is a Revenant, a Class three spirit. You... _should_ be able to handle something like that without too much difficulty, though your Wraith-blade really isn't all that powerful yet."

"_Take my scythe then._" One of the reapers said, this one with glowing blue eyes, and a more masculine voice. "_Me and my sister may be weakened due to our imprisonment, but our weapons are still as effective as ever, and I wish to see my brother as soon as possible._"

Harry accepted the scythe from the reaper with a grateful nod, before turning to his shade again. "Any idea if this really is the right wand? It'd be a hell of a muck up if we go through all this only for the wand to be nothing special."

"The wand is old, older than the wizard by far." The shade informed him. "If it is not the elder wand you believe it may be, it is of the same ilk. I can feel some sort of Astral presence from it, but far weaker than both the stone and cloak. It is likely that the spirit bound to it is either bound tighter, or is greatly weakened, perhaps both."

Harry sighed. "Well, no time like the present then. Wish me luck."

With that, he shifted into the Astral Plane.

xxxxx

Fate, still awake despite the late hour, rolled over in bed.

She had a few things on her mind recently, and she couldn't help but think about them. To start with, there was the form her boggart had taken, Presea Testarossa and Alicia. Fate had accepted the fact she was a clone, that she was a copy of someone else, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

If Presea had never lost Alicia, then Fate would have never _existed_, and yet, Presea didn't care for her, only the original. If Fate had died, she had little doubt that her 'mother' would have simply used another clone in her place, and another after that, and so on and so forth.

This lead to the one thing she actually resented about Nanoha, the pity. Of course, this was a bit stupid, she knew, Nanoha cared for anyone and everyone, it was simply part of her nature. However, there was a small part of the blonde girl that hated Nanoha for the pity she gave her, for the concern.

She hated how Nanoha told her she was her own person with her own choices and feelings, as if she didn't know that already.

It was the one thing that Hayate lacked. The formerly wheelchair-bound girl knew what it was like to be pitied, and so didn't pity Fate, but treated her just like anyone else. Hell, Hayate had only known Fate was a clone when it had been brought up, and while she put on a display of care for Fate, she knew that Hayate hadn't been bothered by it at all, and was just doing it for show.

The Wolkenritter were the same, they didn't care for the fact she was a clone, they didn't try and tell her she was her own person, and neither did they denounce her as nothing more than a copy, she was simply there to them, a comrade, a friend of their master.

Harry, another one who didn't care she was a clone. He'd known about it before he met her, of course, from Reinforce who'd absorbed both her and Nanoha's memories. He had a very different way of going about things though, a very proactive mindset.

Harry did not care for where you came from or what you were, he was focused on where you were going, what you intended to do, and how you might go about achieving such a thing. He was very much a 'aim high and do your best to get there' sort of person.

Fate also felt some level of... empathy for him.

She was a clone who had been created in the image of a dead girl, and he was a corpse given a semblance of life only to be some sort of magical suicide bomber baby.

The way they dealt with their situations, however, was wildly different. Fate was a reflection of what people saw her as, a demure beauty with artificially enhanced magical power, a polite and friendly young girl, if a bit shy, that everyone either envied or adored.

Harry had decided to discard any preconceptions and strike out on his own, willing to use magic others were leery of, willing to ask questions no one wanted to answer. He was helpful and fairly friendly, yes, but he was also somewhat distant, separated from others by his drive and determination.

It was something she both envied and admired about him.

Of course, all of this was simply one of the many things she was thinking on right them. Running through her mind, there was also her integration into this school of magic she found herself in. A little surprisingly, the colour of her eyes hadn't caused her as many problems as she had expected it would.

She knew that many fairy tales, stories, games, and films often had red eyes being a sign of evil and the like. However, in a society that seemed stuck several centuries in the past, she had almost no problems because of it. Oh, there were a few who cast aspersions on her character due to her eye colour, but most seemed fine with it, possibly having gotten used to seeing Harry with a red eye for the previous two years.

Something caught Fate's attention in the corner of her eye.

Out of the window, she could see over the castle and towards some of the other towers. In the distance, she just managed to catch a glimpse of something on the roof of one of the other towers.

"Bardiche, what is that over there?" She quietly asked her Device.

[I am sensing Aionia Mnimi in that direction, suggesting that it is your friend Harry, sir!] Bardiche reported.

Fate frowned. Why would Harry be on the roof of one of the towers? She didn't know which particular tower it was, not yet being familiar with the castle layout. She knew it wasn't Gryffindor tower, or the Astronomy tower though, she knew which one the former was due to seeing through the windows of that one and seeing the students there, and the latter had an open roof for lessons. She also knew it wasn't the Owlery either.

She was about to attempt to contact him telepathically, to ask what was going on, when he vanished from sight.

xxxxx

Hanging from the roof by one hand, Harry had to say, was really not very 'fun'.

Thankfully, the window was within reach, and it wasn't _too_ difficult to latch onto that while he held the reaper's scythe between his feet. It also wasn't too difficult to get the window open as, on the Material Plane, they were kept shut with magic rather than latches – he had no idea why – so on the Astral Plane, there was nothing preventing him simply pushing it open and clambering through it.

The scythe was a bit more difficult to get inside however.

Once inside the room, Harry examined the Revenant that was there. Oh, there were a few other spirits in the room, but not many, and nothing particularly threatening. It was the Class three spirit he was interested in, the first he'd ever seen. The reapers didn't quite count as they were currently really weak due to their circumstances.

The revenant was tall and thin, almost stretched in appearance. Its flesh was a black-brown colour, and there was what looked like strips of semi-rotten flesh hanging off it. It's arms were thin, like the spindly branches of a desiccated willow tree, and stuck straight out at the shoulder. They ended in a claw, three where fingers should be, and one more in place of an opposable thumb.

It wore a strange sort of long robe that was open at the sides, from the armpit down, but bound around the waist with a sort of belt. The robe fell to its feet, so Harry couldn't tell just how human or otherwise they were, though he was leaning towards them being as clawed as its 'hands' were.

The revenant's head was like an upside down triangle, though more rounded. It had sunken eyes, and a very long mouth that seemed to be opened wide in a perpetual scream. Fortunately, it wasn't looking right at Harry, but it would notice him very soon if Harry didn't do anything.

He closed the window behind him.

Harry then slowly stepped out into the room. After all, he had a scythe in his hands, if he was going to use it, he would actually need room to swing it. Of course, it was as he stepped out that the revenant's gaze seemed to fix on him, and also when Harry noticed the large sword clutched in the revenant's claw.

"LIFE!" The revenant screeched, launching itself at Harry with a wild swing of its blade.

Harry ducked underneath the weapon and attempted to hack the revenant's legs off with the scythe. However, despite the amateurish attack, the Astral spirit had faster reactions than Harry had given it credit for and leapt backwards and away from Harry.

"Need life! Want your life!" The revenant gibbered, raising one claw to Harry, whose eyes widened as a reddish orange fireball was suddenly launched at him.

Diving aside, Harry rolled out of the way of the attack, only to be forced to dodge again. This time, it was like a cone in front of the revenant simply froze, covering everything with a layer of frost and taking Harry's breath away. Hoping that it wouldn't cast another invocation so soon, he decided to go on the offensive.

A shadow bolt only made the revenant stumble, but it was enough for Harry to get in close and attempt to strike it down with the borrowed scythe. He didn't mean to, but subconsciously he attempted to use his Wraith-blade while attacking. The result of which was the black scythe being outlined with a familiar grey 'glow'.

Unfortunately, the revenant managed to put its own blade between it and the scythe, and despite how thin and wasted its arms looked, the revenant was _strong_, strong enough to match Harry's own strength easily and force him back. It was then that Harry, once again, remembered that on the Astral Plane, he didn't have any magical augmentations for his speed and strength.

Still, the revenant was _strong!_

Instead of continuing the battle of strength, which he was losing anyway, Harry disengaged and darted to the side, swinging the scythe as he did so, hoping to do _some_ damage to the revenant, if only to just slow it down a bit. However, the revenant was still the superior fighter and dodged Harry's attack once more.

While it was still mid-jump, however, Harry, being as reckless as he sometimes was, darted forward to shoulder barge the revenant, and succeeded in tripping it up. He then swung the scythe down on revenant, only to be blocked once more by that damn sword it held.

Holding off Harry with one hand, the revenant jabbed its other claw at the young necromancer, a sizzling bolt of white lightning jumping from it and into Harry's side.

Harry yelled in pain as the invocation tore through him like a sledgehammer through wet tissue paper. One of Harry's hands left the scythe as he stumbled back to feel at the chunk blown out of his side. Fortunately, spiritual damage could be recovered from given time, and didn't reflect physical health.

Unfortunately, Harry was currently in the middle of a battle he wasn't properly prepared for. Facing down a dozen or more Class two spirits was one thing, but trying to fight a single Class three was something else. _This_ was the difference between one level of power and another, and it was quite obvious just how much stronger a revenant was compared to a sluagh.

It made him wonder just how powerful the reapers would be when they recovered, being Fourth class spirits and a level of power above this revenant.

"Life! Fresh life for me!" The revenant seemed to be delighted... or maybe in pain? It was hard to tell when all it did was screech and scream like that.

"Hell. No." Harry growled out, refusing to become this spirit's next meal.

The revenant charged forward, knocking Harry back and onto the floor. He stopped its blade with the shaft of the scythe though, before rolling slightly and managing to kick the revenant in the face. Sadly, that didn't really do much damage, only disorientating it, though it _did_ give Harry the chance to roll to the side and out of immediate danger.

Glancing down at his side, Harry saw his spiritual flesh was slowly regenerating, though it left him feeling drained. It would take several hours, at least, before it was fully fixed though, and his Tiet reserves were rapidly being eaten up. He had maybe five minutes to finish this fight, he'd be running on fumes after that.

The revenant, however, had yet to receive even the slightest cut from Harry. Luckily, the scythe Harry held was the weapon of a reaper, a Fourth class spirit, meaning that it was strong enough to pretty much only need one cut, as long as he caught the revenant right.

Harry decided to just go for it.

Two rapid shadow bolts aimed at the revenant's knees made it stumble slightly, and Harry was already running at it full speed. He blocked the revenant's sword with the shaft of the scythe once more, but instead of fighting it, he twisted so that the blade was deflected one way, and the scythe itself was on a collision course for the revenant's shoulder.

He lashed out with a kick, knocking the revenant back, and put his full weight behind the scythe as it seemed to inch closer to the revenant in slow motion. He was just beginning to hope that this was going to be it, when the revenant's foot lashed out, clawing Harry's own ankle and making him stumble.

He'd overstretched on that last blow, and rather than recovering from his fall, he was knocked head over heels across the floor instead.

As he tried to get up, he found the revenant hovering right over him. One of its clawed hands was pinning his wrist and scythe to the ground, and it had contorted itself so that on foot was placed on Harry's chest, keeping his full body pinned to the ground.

Its eyes seemed to gleam hungrily as it leaned over him, and there was a disgusting sucking noise coming from it's mouth. Oh, hell! Was that some sort of worm or something in there!? There seemed to be a large worm, as thick around as Harry's wrist, coming from the revenant's mouth, and...

The 'worm' opened up, peeling itself back like a banana, revealing a mouth full of long, sharp teeth that reached for Harry, eager to devour him...

The revenant froze in place, and Harry's eyes opened wide as he saw the tip of a blade emerging from the revenant's chest. Shoving it aside, as the revenant's strength had left it, Harry looked up to see the first reaper he'd met stood on the windowsill with her own scythe embedded in revenant's back.

"_We were wondering what was taking you so long._" She told him. "_Not much of a necromancer, are you, if a measly revenant can come so close to killing you?_" She mocked him. "_Do you not know __**any**__ invocations to subdue it?_"

"As a matter of fact, no." Harry replied. "I only know the Wraith-blade and shadow bolt, both of which were taught to me by my shade, and as you know, my Wraith-blade isn't exactly the most powerful one there's ever been." He sighed. "Thanks for the save though, I thought I was done for."

"_You __**are**__ trying to retrieve my brother's prison, I have reason to keep you alive and well._" She responded. "_As for not knowing any invocations, I know a handful, perhaps I may teach you one or two of them._" She turned around to regard the other Astral spirits in the room who'd kept out of the revenant's way while it and Harry fought.

The other reaper soon joined Harry in the room, and he handed the scythe back to him. The shade also made an appearance, though it seemed focused on the rapidly dissolving corpse of the revenant. It beckoned Harry over and indicated the 'corpse'.

"Plunge your Wraith-blade into it. You won't get much from it, but every little bit helps. Claim it's blade also, use it to enhance your Wraith-blade as you did with the reaper's scythe. It won't dissolve like the revenant if you claim it for yourself." The shade told him, and Harry was too exhausted to argue and did exactly that.

Once that was done, he stumbled towards the door separating the headmaster's office and the man's own quarters. Pushing it open, he headed through the first room and into the second, before finally entering what he knew to be Dumbledore's bedroom.

"Shade, please check for me that he's still asleep. Knowing my luck, he'll have awoken by now." Harry requested.

"Very well, master, I will return in just a moment." The shade bowed to him, before fading from view.

It was only a handful of seconds later that the shade reappeared, but by this time, the reapers had followed after Harry and taken up positions just behind and either side of him, rather like bodyguards would.

"He's asleep, master, though I would suggest grabbing the wand and returning to the Astral Plane as quickly as possible." The shade suggested. "He seems to be a fairly light sleeper, and I doubt he got to his age by sleeping through trouble."

"Understood." Harry agreed. "However, once I've gotten the wand, please check that I've left nothing behind, no hairs caught on anything or the like."

The shade nodded, before guiding over to where, on the Material Plane, Dumbledore's bedside table was, indicating just where the bed with the sleeping man on it was as well.

Taking a steadying breath, despite it hardly being necessary for a spirit, Harry shifted back to the Material Plane, his eyes already scanning around for the wand. It took but a moment for him to see it, his hand reaching out to grab it, and another moment to return to the Astral Plane.

The shade, already anticipating the question, faded from view for a moment, before returning.

"He did not wake, and I detected no proof of you being there." It informed him.

"Good." Harry breathed. "Now, let's get somewhere else and see if I can free your brother." That last point was addressed to the reapers, both of him did not look at all happy to see the wand currently in Harry's hand.

"_Yes, lets._" The female reaper agreed.

xxxxx

Going out of the window and down the outside of the tower, was quite frankly both scary and exhilarating. Spiritual bodies didn't receive 'fall damage' in the same way that a physical one would, so there was little risk of injury if they fell – which Harry did – aside from being rather 'winded' when they hit the ground.

After that, it only took a quick shift to the Material Plane and a Dimensional Transfer spell for them to end up, once more, on the world that seemed to be acting as Harry's workshop of sorts.

"Right, how are we going to get your brother out of here?" Harry asked. "Destroying the stone worked, but the cloak was trickier as that simply refused to be destroyed."

"_It's a wand, isn't it? Wands are easily broken, just like any other twig._" The male reaper said.

Deciding that he might as well start with something simple like that, Harry tapped the ground with his foot, raising a golem from the earth beneath his feet. He handed the wand to the golem, which wandered away before trying to snap it. Harry wasn't going to risk it blowing up in his face or something like that if it was trapped. Hell, breaking a wand tended to release whatever mana remained in it, and this wand was both old and had a Class four spirit sealed inside of it!

It turned out he was right to have a golem try and break it for him.

Harry blinked in surprise as he examined the crater the resulting explosion had left behind, it was about half as deep as he was tall, and definitely _not_ the sort of thing he'd want to get hit by himself. In the middle of the crater was the two parts of the wand, and a third reaper spirit.

This one seemed, if anything, to be in even worse condition than his siblings. Every bone Harry could see appeared to be nothing but cracks and breaks, with even the most shallow of them running deep into the bone. Harry couldn't detect Astral 'auras', but he was willing to bet that this spirit's was virtually non-existent.

So, seeing all this, Harry got to work. Fixing the bones up might not help the spirit recover its power, but there was no way that being composed of so many broken bones could be comfortable or healthy, and healing them up likely helped things along. Aside from that, it couldn't hurt, so there was no harm in it at least.

The reaper was unconscious, or so Harry thought, and didn't wake up at all while Harry went about fixing the many breaks in his bones. Despite it being rather easy for him to fix the damage, the sheer quantity of cracks and breaks kept Harry there for several hours as he methodically went about healing them one by one.

By the time he finished, dawn was only a couple hours away.

The Astral spirits watched as Harry created a magic clone and sent it off to school in his place for the day. They remained silent as Harry sat down and began to do some more work on the Pleiades golems. It was the female reaper who eventually asked why he wasn't going to school that day.

"I probably will later." Harry replied. "However, before that, I want to ask Hound if they've had any success on tracking down likely places for Voldemort to have hidden his horcruxes. We're still missing three, if he indeed did make six of them, and there's only so many places to look.

Honestly, one of the most likely places for a horcrux to be is Gringotts, and there's no way the goblins will let us into _any_ vault but our own, especially if we intend to do something to an item they are keeping for someone. That means breaking into the bank, which comes with a whole host of problems, the least of which is what the goblins would do if they caught us. There's some pretty nasty rumours about what sort of traps and things they have guarding the vaults down there, and I don't want to fall prey to any of them."

"_Could we not do as we did just now, and traverse the Astral Plane to avoid them?_" One of the reapers asked.

"Goblins are paranoid buggers, I wouldn't put it past them to have traps that could affect, or at least detect, spiritual entities such as yourselves. Heck, there's supposed to be a convergence of leylines _inside_ of Gringotts, not simply beneath there like at Hogwarts. I shudder to think what they could do with that much raw power." Harry sighed.

The shade then added its own opinion, gesturing towards the unconscious third reaper. "As you can see, it is possible to bind Astral spirits with magic, and while wizards may have forgotten about such things, goblins are hoarders, and they likely will have a book or tome somewhere regarding such things. Whether such magic is used, or if said book is simply in storage is another thing entirely though, and like all things, it is a risk."

"_Could you not simply speak to the goblins about them having a corrupted item in their halls?_" The conscious male reaper asked in exasperation. "_Surely they would not like having such a thing there? I fail to see why anyone would wish to hold onto such a thing as a 'horcrux'_"

"The goblins don't care what they keep, so long as the client does not break their laws." Harry responded. "Even Voldemort isn't stupid enough to cross them, not with the limited number of followers he had in the first 'war'. If he _had_ attacked the goblins at one point, that would make things so much easier, but he didn't."

"_I'm assuming that breaking into the bank will count as a breach of their laws?_" The female reaper sarcastically wondered.

Such a question hardly merited an answer, but Harry confirmed it regardless.

"Yes, it does. However, breaking into the bank is _not_ impossible." He said. "It was done summer two years ago, and I have the feeling I know who did it, so if it comes to it, I will attempt to steal a horcrux from Gringotts, if one is there of course. Though finding it would still be a problem, there's literally thousands of vaults down there, and it's an absolute maze too."

"_That sounds troublesome._" The female reaper said, and if she were human, or at lest had flesh and skin, Harry was sure she'd be frowning.

"Yeah, so let's hope there _isn't_ a horcrux there." Harry agreed.

The reaper didn't say anything else as she and her brother watched over their unconscious sibling, and the shade offered nothing as it returned to watching over both James Potter and Albus Dumbledore, occasionally switching between which one it was observing.

Harry simply continued to make his golems.

xxxxx

Amelia Bones looked up from her paperwork when she heard a knock on her office door. A flick of her wand and it opened to reveal someone that she'd seen more of in the past two years than her previous decades within the Ministry, the head Unspeakable, Hound.

"Another one of your visits, Hound?" She asked. "It's not normal for department heads to get together as often as we do, people will talk, you know?"

Hound snorted. "I doubt anyone will say anything close to the truth, and besides, what makes you think I'm seen when I visit you?"

"I should have known, damned Unspeakables." She replied without venom, rolling her eyes as she did so. "Now, why _did_ you come here?"

"I thought a mutual acquaintance of ours wished to speak, I simply gave him the opportunity." Hound told her, sounding rather amused as he did so. Amelia looked curious, but jumped in shock as a voice came from directly behind her.

"How did you know I was here? I know for a fact that the rest of the Ministry missed my entry." A fairly young, yet somewhat raspy voice grumbled.

"Harry?!" Amelia span around to see the boy in question, who was looking at Hound with a curious expression on his face.

"We _didn't_ notice your entry actually." Hound replied. "We only picked up on you when you stopped doing whatever it was you were doing to keep hidden and used more regular means of remaining unseen. We have sensors for things such as notice-me-not and disillusionment charms, you know?"

"I see." Harry murmured. "Anyway, you're right, I was hoping to speak to at least one of you. I've retrieved another horcrux from the Gaunt shack at Little Hangleton and left a trap for Riddle if he ever returns there. I was wondering if you guys had any more success with tracking down any of them."

"I thought you'd ask about that." Hound said, reaching into his robes for something, before pulling out a locket. "We retrieved this from a cave Riddle visited in his youth. However, it's not the original, and we don't know the current whereabouts or condition of the real horcrux.

"There was a note in it, signed 'RAB', which we believe refers to one Regulus Arcturus Black. What he did with the real thing, we don't know, and finding out will be difficult. Regulus Black went missing towards the end of the last war, though rumours circulated that he was personally killed by Voldemort himself. In truth, we found his body amongst the inferi that filled the lake protecting the horcrux."

"I see." Harry murmured. "Perhaps Sirius might remember something, or we might find a clue at his home or among his personal effects."

"On the bright side, we have discreetly searched pretty much every magical location in Britain." Hound added. "Unfortunately, while we did find some interesting artefacts there, none of them were horcruxes. We haven't managed to search Diagon Alley, the homes of purebloods, Hogwarts, or Hogsmeade though."

Harry thought about that for a moment. He could probably have his shade search the homes of known Death Eaters for anything incriminating, he'd already retrieved the diadem from Hogwarts, and again Hogsmeade could be searched by his shade. Diagon Alley contained Gringotts, one place he actually had to be careful with.

Sighing, he told Amelia and Hound about that idea, as well as his concern regarding the goblins.

Amelia clicked her tongue. "If you find any dark or cursed artefacts class three or higher, let me know, would you? I'd really love to crack down on a few of the less pleasant elements of our world, but I need evidence, or at least a way to get evidence, before I can do much of anything."

"Hmm, yes, I'm feeling rather useless at present." Hound sighed. "I know a few spells that might help you sneak into Gringotts, but no matter how you look at it, doing that is a last resort, and incredibly risky all the same. I'll go over some old records and see if there's anything I can pin on Riddle that the goblins will be unhappy about."

"I'll have one of my auror trainees, possibly Andromeda's girl, dig out every law relating to goblins that exists. That should give her a taste of the less glamorous side of an auror's job, and perhaps we'll find something amongst all of the useless pretty words that we can use." Amelia added.

"Any idea where Voldemort himself is currently holed up?" Harry asked.

"None, unfortunately." Hound told him. "We didn't find him in our search of the country, so we believe he's abroad somewhere. However, if he's currently some sort of disembodied wraith then tracking him is going to be difficult. If he's possessing someone or something, then that would be even harder."

"So the best we can do is keep hunting down his horcruxes and wait for him to surface?" Harry groaned.

"It seems so." Hound agreed.

"Damned dark lord, why couldn't he just die properly?" Amelia grumbled.

"At least we're making progress in permanently killing him off." Harry offered. "Imagine if we'd never found out about the horcruxes at all, or only learned of them once he'd already taken over the country?"

"Somehow, Harry, I don't think that's helping." Hound said, indicating Amelia's expression.

Seeing the head of the DMLE glowering at him, Harry decided that it might be for the best if he returned to Hogwarts already and promptly fled the room.

Hound chuckled lightly. "He keeps things interesting, doesn't he?"

Amelia turned her glare onto the Unspeakable, who just realised he had some really important stuff to do back in his department and he really had to leave right then to check up on it.

Amelia huffed to herself. "Men, no matter what age they are, they never learn how to handle women."

Outside her office and throughout the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, a number of witches and wizards heard something rather uncommon.

The laughter of Amelia Bones.


	18. Break In

AN: I must say, I'm surprised that I wrote this chapter as quickly as I did! Maybe this is a portent for things to come! Maybe it means I'll finish another two or more chapters before Christmas, and possibly have a Christmas chapter on Christmas day! Then again, maybe not, who knows? We'll see what happens, I just hope you enjoy reading it, I know I liked writing it!

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 18 – Break In

Albus Dumbledore held his wand tight in his hand underneath the table, looking around the Great Hall with concealed worry. The wand he held wasn't the elder wood and thestral tail hair wand he'd had the previous day, but rather an oak and phoenix feather wand he'd been matched with as an eleven year old boy.

The elder wand, or rather The Elder Wand, had gone _missing_.

The only comfort that Dumbledore had was that he was neither dead nor 'defeated', and therefore the wand's allegiance should still be to him. Still, the fact it was stolen was a big blow to him. While Dumbledore was a powerful wizard in his own right, and with plenty of skill and experience, the wand had acted as an amplifier, making him so much better than he already was.

With his advancing age, if Voldemort ever did come back – which Albus fully believed he would – then he didn't know if he would be able to match the younger wizard as well as he had in the past.

With that thought, the old man's eyes flickered over to the Ravenclaw table, catching sight of one Harry Ritter sat there. He was glad the boy was back already, only the day after he'd fled from his defence lesson like he had, and a small part of him wondered if Harry had been the one to steal the wand.

However, he didn't think so. The wards on his door and windows had been unbroken, and Fawkes hadn't woken him up either. Dumbledore didn't believe that even a prodigy of a thirteen year old would be able to get into his room like that, it was the sort of thing only the absolute best of assassins would be capable of, and there were perhaps only two or three magical assassins in the world that Dumbledore could think of that might be able to duplicate that feat.

Tom Riddle was not someone who would be capable of it either. Voldemort much preferred destroying wards to bypassing them, and he had a greater focus on combat magic and empowering rituals than some of the more obscure magic that might have been used to gain entry to his room.

He supposed that put a hole in the theory of Harry and Tom being one and the same. While there were some similarities between them, there was a host of differences too. Tom loved using overwhelming power in a duel, and would only ever use magic. Harry, on the other hand, used more physical abilities – as proven by the bruises and injuries he sustained during spars with his familiars – and Dumbledore had also heard of the boy's use of various golem spells too.

Golems were something that Voldemort disdained. Why waste his own magic, and expend the effort, of creating a temporary construct when he could order a servant to do something for him? Even in school, there were those who would do what Tom Riddle asked them to, even a teacher or two that had fallen under the charismatic young man's influence. Those were nothing to what he had as 'Lord' Voldemort though.

Sycophants.

Bellatrix Lestrange came to mind, but she was far from the only one who idolised Voldemort, she wasn't even unique in the degree of fanaticism that she showed for him. That crazy woman would have carved out her own heart willingly for her lord and master, she would have slaughtered her own family with a smile, and tortured her children if she'd had any.

It made Dumbledore sad that such a woman had fallen so far. He well remembered the intelligent, crafty, and sharp-tongued girl who had a similar zeal for mischief as the Marauders had, tempered with the cunning of a true Slytherin, all wrapped up in a package of raw talent and the ambition to push her limits as far as she could.

Take out the loyalty to Voldemort, and she actually somewhat resembled Harry Ritter actually, though not so much in appearance. Bellatrix had fine, aristocratic features, like Harry true, but hers weren't as angular as young Harry Ritter's, and her eyes had been violet where Harry's were red and green.

A frustrated half-growl from further down the table drew his attention, and he saw James Potter once again glaring at Harry Ritter. The man seemed to do little else when the two were in the same room at the same time, and it was no secret that the man had absolutely no love for the young boy.

That actually had a bit of a polarising effect on the school. The students in fifth year and below seemed to be siding with Harry, which was somewhat surprising to Dumbledore, and regarded James with rather cold and chilly looks. The older students were either too focused on their studies to become involved, kept their distance, or treated _Harry_ with some degree of suspicion. The first years were mixed, some falling in line with the 'adult', and others with the one closer to their own age.

Outside of the castle was a very different story.

While opinions were still divided, the adults hadn't had much if any interaction with Harry himself, while a number of them remembered James openly fighting against Voldemort in the last war, and that did leave an impression, especially with how vocal James had been in his opposition of the dark lord.

Currently, word going around was that people believed that James was a hotheaded fighter, as proven by his somewhat reckless behaviour in the last war, who had turned rather cowardly when it was his own 'son' involved in things and had fled the country because of this.

There was some murmurings about Harry himself though, rumours about how he was a secret weapon created to fight dark lords that had somehow become broken, that he was the dark lord reborn, that he was the _next_ dark lord, that he was some sort of magical creature just pretending to be human, that he was a demon, and various other things.

Things were 'okay' for Harry right now, but it wouldn't remain that way. He might be able to buy himself some time, but before long, there would be a big enough public voice that would call for his surrender, whether that be exile, execution, or something else Dumbledore couldn't say.

He didn't think Harry had more than a few months before that point, regardless of what would happen then.

xxxxx

Fate had thought to talk to Harry about what she'd seen last night, but when she tried to mentally connect to him, she'd found it far more difficult than it really should have been. It was almost like Harry wasn't there across the table from her, but she could see him, though he didn't seem to be eating anything.

Of course, once she did manage to connect with him, she found that it wasn't actually Harry sat there, but what he referred to as a 'magic clone', that was a physical imprint of him, similar to a ghost of sorts' whose memories and experiences would be transferred back to Harry once it 'died'.

Still, she asked it what had happened the previous night, what had Harry been doing on the roof she'd seen him on?

The clone hesitated to reply, but eventually confided in her that Harry had gone after some dangerous magical objects that'd had Astral spirits forcibly trapped inside of them. When asked what sort of artefacts they were, he told her about the tale of three brothers and the hallows, along with what little the three reapers had told Harry about what they remembered.

The clone didn't tell her what Harry was doing right then though, not knowing quite how things were going, merely what Harry had intended to do. He did, however, let her know about the current status of the horcruxes, and his worry about there still being three of them out there somewhere, especially as the only place they could really think of to hide one was Gringotts.

_~And you can only think of one place that he might have hidden those things? Could he have hidden two or more in one place?~_ Fate suggested.

_~Remember, one of them was taken from where it was by Regulus Black, and he could have hidden it **anywhere**, if he failed to destroy it, and if there **is** one at Gringotts, that leaves one last Horcrux, which he may or may not have even created.~_ The clone replied.

_~You don't think he made a full six?~_ Fate asked.

_~Reinforce had a theory that he used significant kills to make horcruxes, and he might have intended to use me to make one. If that's so, we could only be looking for five horcruxes, or if we're wrong about Gringotts, four of them, and we simply don't know. Heck, the only way to really be certain is to pin Voldemort himself down and tear his mind apart for answers.~_ The clone told her.

Fate looked thoughtful for a moment. _~If you made a horcrux, where would you have hidden it?~_ She wondered.

The clone mentally snorted. _~Assuming I'm restricted to Earth? I'd make it something heavy and drop it in the Mariana Trench. It would take some effort to retrieve a horcrux from the deepest part of the world's oceans. Besides, who'd look there for it?~_

The clone's words didn't register with Fate at first, but when they did, she was suddenly overcome by the sheer level of difficulty of Harry's task. He didn't know what form the objects he's searching for took, he didn't know how many he was looking for, and he didn't even know where to look for them. She felt that Harry was almost grateful to Voldemort for hiding them in such significant places, it at least limited the number of possibilities if the pattern held true for all of the horcruxes.

Noticing Fate's silence, the clone looked at her curiously, before realising what was on her mind.

_~Don't worry, Fate, we'll find them all.~_ It comforted her. _~After all, it was only last year that we even knew they existed, and we already have three. That's progress, if nothing else. __Besides that, there are other avenues to explore, maybe the Astral plane and the denizens of that realm have something I can use, or perhaps I'll find something in the Underworld. If that's what it takes to end him, I'll do it.~_

_~Harry, promise me something, will you?~_ Fate responded after a few moments of silence.

_~Well, I'm not the real Harry, so I can't really promise anything, but I'll at least hear you out.~_ The clone agreed to that much at least, but it wouldn't make any big decisions by itself without the real Harry's approval.

_~I know I can't talk you out of going to the Underworld, you'll go there eventually, just... let me know, okay? I'll go with you, watch your back, and make sure you come back in one piece.~_ She gave him an almost pleading look. _~You're a good friend, Harry, and I never want to lose a single one of my friends.~_

The clone looked slightly sad at that point, remembering that Harry was functionally immortal, if not invulnerable. Unless he was killed, he would live long enough to see everyone die, people he cared about, people who may have been only acquaintances, people he didn't know at all, and people he didn't like, all of them.

_~Like I said, it's the real Harry's decision whether to take you along with him.~_ The clone replied. _~If it was up to me though, and if that's any indication of what Harry would do... I'd take you with me, okay?~_

Fate gave the clone a small smile that it returned.

Several people noticed the silent conversation the two had seemed to have, and while a few thought it was kinda cute, there were still others wondering just how close the two were.

xxxxx

One person who had noticed the two was Hayate over at the Hufflepuff table. Nanoha might have noticed if she'd looked in their direction, but the girl was happily chatting away with roughly half of Hufflepuff house right then. Honestly, that girl could make friends with an evil little gremlin if she put her mind to it, and she was now in a house that had a reputation for being friendly.

Zafira, who was at Hayate's feet under the table, huffed a half-laugh, having noticed the two as well. He shared a look with Hayate, who grinned back at her guardian beast. Oh, Zafira would find some way to prank Harry with this, and get back at him for so many damned rabbit themed pranks as well! It was only a fortnight ago when Harry – he was sure it was Harry, even if he had no proof – had turned his lupine ears into long rabbit ears, and he hadn't noticed a thing until Hayate had burst out laughing at him.

It was a surprise to both of them how easily Fate and Harry had clicked together, just like it was a surprise to everyone who knew the two of them. Fate was, and still is, a demure and reserved girl who looked at Nanoha as a victim would their saviour, which is what Nanoha truly was to Fate. Harry, while also being distant to people in general, also had a far sharper, more dangerous, and at times less pleasant, edge to him.

Still, every friend was a good friend in Hayate's books, and Harry was most definitely a friend. Of course, as a friend, that meant she was obliged to tease them about how they were looking at each other like that. _She_ might know they were, probably, talking telepathically, but to everyone else it would look like they were staring into each other's eyes like a couple would.

It was a bad habit that mages sometimes got into when communicating mentally over short distances, it was even mentioned in the TSAB handbook as a habit to avoid or break.

"Not yet, Zafira. Later, when they're not expecting it." Hayate murmured quietly, and she was sure that the mischievous glimmer in the blue wolf's eyes was mirrored in her own face.

xxxxx

Harry managed to sneak back into the castle between second and third period, seamlessly switching himself out with his clone. As it disappeared, his Occlumency – optimised for rapidly processing and sorting large amounts of information instead of defending him from mental assaults – quickly processed everything the clone had been through in the last couple of hours that he'd been away.

His eyes widened in surprise as he came across Fate's request. He hadn't planned to go to the Underworld any time soon, though he would at some point, and to hear that she would willingly venture to such a place, merely to watch his own back, was a bit of a surprise.

He glanced towards the blonde girl and huffed.

"We'll see what happens." He told her, speaking out loud.

That earned a few curious looks from a handful of people, but Fate knew straight away what he was referring to. Him saying that also let her know that this was now the _real_ Harry, rather than a clone. She wondered when he'd switched with the clone, as she had been with it so far that day, having the same classes as Harry that morning.

Fate nodded, but didn't say anything while she continued to walk by his side. Harry didn't say anything either, instead mentally conversing with his familiars and Reinforce. They hadn't gone with him on his most recent 'adventure', mostly because it had involved the Astral Plane, a place they couldn't go as they were technically mana constructs.

Loki and Isis, as was becoming normal, were sparring in the Chamber of Secrets. He was sure that, when both of them were satisfied with their ability to fight with a weapon in hand, they would take things off planet to somewhere they could use some of their more devastating spells, not that Isis or Loki really had anything particularly large scale.

Bast was wandering the castle in cat form, just meandering around and not looking for anything in particular. She was slightly amused by the fact, despite knowing that there was at least two in the castle that could transform into cats – Bast herself and Professor Mcgonagall – no one really paid any attention to her at all, not even the teachers.

Reinforce was in their room in Ravenclaw tower, simply laying around and relaxing. She was reading one of the muggle fiction books they'd bought over the summer, this one was part of a series about two young children finding an old, decrepit angel living in their attic, one that had pretty much lost faith in everything it believed in. A rather sad, but still interesting story.

Harry refocused on himself once he finished making sure all of them were happy and well. He found that he was in front of the classroom door, and he had to hold back a groan, History of Magic was _far_ from his favourite class, but it did give him an opportunity to go through more of the stuff Mahoutokoro had sent him.

As a matter of fact, he could now 'tick off' part of the practical section of the Spirit Calling first year syllabus, as with the reaper spirits, he now had a total of four spirits contracted with him, even if they were Astral spirits as opposed to nature spirits, which were what they were taught to contract with.

That counted for fifteen percent of the work at least. There were two theory tests and a practical one that counted for twenty percent apiece, and the coursework counted for the remaining twenty five percent, and he'd already made a start on that. He was _so _grateful for both the way his Occlumency was focused and the magic clones he'd made. Otherwise there was no way he'd be able to get all of this done in a reasonable time frame.

Even so, he was being pushed to the limit by doing as much as he was, and he enjoyed it. He found that reading up on new things he found interesting was enjoyable, and using that knowledge, proving that he was capable, was something he really took pride in.

Now, if only his Elemental Manipulation stuff was going as well. While he had the theory down, and he could cast elemental _spells_, his direct manipulation... wasn't going well, and he'd made no visible progress at all there.

Still, he'd take what he could get, and he would get everything he could.

xxxxx

"_What kind of room has no doors or windows?"_

James Potter paused at this. He glared at the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room, wishing it would just disappear. He couldn't think of an answer, but he needed to get inside the common room. He wanted to search the _thing's_ room, see if he could find proof that it wasn't as innocent as it tried to appear.

However, he'd never been very good at riddles, and didn't know the answer to this one.

Hearing footsteps rapidly approaching from behind, James disillusioned himself, and waited. Only a few moments later, a slightly stressed looking girl, maybe fifth or sixth year, sped towards the entrance, heard the riddle, and gave an answer, 'mushroom', before running into the common room.

James slipped in behind her, glad of the opportunity to get into the tower, and ignored her as she seemed to search for something, probably homework or the like. Instead, he went straight to where he knew the male head boy's room was, before waiting once more.

After the girl had found what she'd been looking for, which turned out to be homework after all, and left, James considered the entry to the head boy's room in front of him. He wished he had the Marauder's Map with him, as that would have just told him what the password was, but there were other methods of getting past such things.

Angling his wand like one might a crowbar, James began to wiggle it slightly. Forcing his magic into the tiny gap between the wall and the door, he tried to slowly pry it open. When he felt it give a little, he poured more magic into it, forcing the gap wider.

It took around ten minutes for James to get a proper grip on the magic keeping the door shut, and he was sweating a bit from doing that while also maintaining his disillusionment charm at the same time. Ward breaking _was_ a rather mana intensive skill after all, even more so for someone who only knew the theory and hadn't really practised it before, leading him to wasting a lot of his mana on the relatively basic spell he was using to force the password ward to break.

Still, as inefficient as it was, it still worked, and with a final surge of mana, the door burst open, startling Reinforce who was laid on the bed in there.

Thankfully, she wasn't immediately in view from the doorway, and straight away after being surprised turned herself unseen as well. Ironically, she used the exact same spell that James Potter was currently using to keep from being noticed.

Her first reaction to the door being forced open with no one there, she would later admit to having picked up from Harry, was to launch a spread of Bloody Daggers in that direction. Seeing what appeared to be a distortion in the air, characteristic of the disillusionment charm, begin bleeding, Reinforce became angry.

She could guess who this was, and she was mad that he was going so far to get at Harry. All that her master had done was reveal that James and Lily Potter were alive, and after a few small waves, everything was beginning to settle down. They could have easily have settled into that, but no, James bloody Potter would not be satisfied!

Perhaps some of the blame rested at Harry's feet for forcing them into the spotlight, but now James would not settle for anything less than Harry's death. Even if she took her master in her arms and fled the planet, she doubted his former father would rest until he knew that Harry had been put down like some sort of rabid animal.

Fortunately for James Potter, Reinforce retained enough sense to not bombard the interloper with enough magic to turn him into a crispy skeleton, but instead simply hit him with enough power to knock him unconscious, making him lose his disillusionment charm, and blast him out of the doorway.

If, perhaps, Reinforce had not been as quiet as she could have been, and the loud noise drew attention to the man who had just forced his way through a password-protected door to a child's room, a child he was no longer related to due to kicking him out of them family, then that was simply a bonus.

Reinforce did not hang around after that. Instead, she packed up everything in the room into Harry's expanded trunk, and then used a Dimensional Transfer spell to take everything to the home Harry had built back in Japan. She was not going to leave _anything_ lying around for James Potter to find!

xxxxx

The first thing that told Nanoha something had happened were whispered rumours that spread through Hogwarts like a plague, such was the rumour mill of Hogwarts. Apparently, someone had broken into one of the house common rooms and tried to get into one of the students bedrooms and failed, that was the core of the rumors at least.

Some of them said it was a woman that broke in, but most had a man, though a few suggested it was some kind of creature.

Strangely, it was not a girl's room being broken into that was most prevalent, but a boy's, and that fed the rumours about it being someone with _those_ sorts of tastes.

No names were actually being spoken for some reason, which was something of a surprise. One would expect that at least a description of the intruder would be given, if not the school being put on alert. This had many people scoffing at the rumour, believing it to be false.

However, one only had to look at the faces of some of the Ravenclaws to see expressions that suggested that there might be some truth to the rumours, so perhaps they were being suppressed somehow. If that was the case, who was keeping things quiet, and why?

Nanoha had tried mentally asking Fate and Harry if they knew anything about what had happened, and the former knew nothing, and the latter didn't have much more. Harry said that he'd felt Reinforce be surprised over the special link they shared, and then he'd felt her anger. When he'd asked her about what was going on, she'd only told him that they would need to talk later, and some decisions needed to be made.

That worried Nanoha, and she was concerned for her friend. She didn't really know what to do though. While she protested the nickname of the 'White Devil', she who beats her enemies into friends, it was nevertheless true that such was all she really knew how to do.

'Diplomatic' wasn't really a word in her vocabulary.

If she was given a target or an objective, she could complete it, no problems. However, real life was a lot more fluid, uncertain, and complicated than that, and even Nanoha knew she couldn't just blast people willy nilly until they all agreed with the way she thought.

That left her frustrated, and a frustrated Nanoha was never a good thing. Luckily, Fate picked up on her emotional state, and a promise to spar on an out of the way planet that evening managed to placate the young, yet highly destructive, girl.

She wished she could have just had that spar there and then, but she had a double period to deal with before she was finished with lessons that day, and after that, but before supper, she was going to work together with some like-minded Hufflepuffs on muggle subjects. Nanoha was _not_ going to let her regular education slip just because she was learning magic as well!

Sighing, Nanoha refocused on Professor Flitwick.

Just because she was still learning muggle subjects, didn't mean she was going to let her magical studies slip either!

xxxxx

Brian and Rose knew straight away that something had happened to their father. The way their mother's expression seemed rather strained at lunch, the fact their father was missing, even the way the headmaster looked a bit disappointed, it all just added up in their heads.

The rumours going around the school didn't make them feel any better, especially as it was the Ravenclaws who looked the most freaked out. After all, they both knew of one Ravenclaw that their father was interested in. Not 'interested' as in what would constitute a criminal offence, but rather he was focused on proving that Harry Ritter was a monster and that James was right about him.

Their father liked being right about things, and he could be pretty stubborn.

If you wanted proof of that, you only needed to hear the stories of what their parents were like at school. James Potter would not take no for an answer from Lily Evans, and had hounded her for literally years until she'd eventually given in and agreed to go out with him.

Some people made it sound romantic, like James had finally proven himself worthy of Lily. Other people made it sound creepy, with James basically chasing off every other contender for Lily's hand, leaving her with no option _but_ to date the one person she'd told no every single time he'd asked her before.

Still, both children hoped it wasn't their father who'd broken into one of the common rooms, and from there broken into one of the private rooms. _That_, they both knew, would not go over well with anyone, and they really didn't want any further attention being shone on them, they had more than enough simply being the children of Lily and James Potter, Brian more so because he was the 'false boy-who-lived's twin'.

Ever since they'd come to Britain things just seemed to be mental, and they were _really_ uncomfortable with how things were going. They'd barely started at this new school, and it seemed every week was really hectic, nothing at all like their time back in Canada, where one day almost blended into any other.

There were _some_ good points. For one, they'd met Harry, who could have been another sibling for the two of them, and that was kind of cool. Where Brian was the popular kid, and Rose was the weird but fun one, Harry filled in the position of super smart but not nerdy one who always knows how to help.

Oh, he wasn't perfect. He seemed a bit unsure how to deal with them himself, and they'd both got the feeling on more than one occasion that his familiars had been eyeing them up and scoping them out, which was rather intimidating and unpleasant, but none of the familiars seemed to look down on them at least.

The food at Hogwarts was also different from what they'd had at their school in Canada, and both of them, Brian especially, loved it. Even when there wasn't a feast on, the sheer quantity and variety of food laid out on the tables was absolutely staggering. There was everything they could ever want and more!

On top of that, the professors at Hogwarts were supposed to be experts in their fields, aside from Defence Against the Dark Arts of course, which hadn't had a stable syllabus in decades due to changing teachers at least once a year. Minerva Mcgonagall was knowledgeable in all fields of transfiguration, and had even published a few articles in several periodicals. Filius Flitwick had earned renown in spite of his part-goblin heritage, becoming an internationally famous duelling master with a number of trophies to his name. The other professors had similar achievements and accolades too.

Hogwarts was, in fact, one of the three most well-known schools in Europe, if not the world, alongside Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The sheer reputation alone was quite something, kind of like Oxford University was to muggles, and the number of well-known and respected people that had come from there and made it onto the international stage was rather large, especially considering the size of Britain in relation to the rest of the world.

None of that was really important to Brian or Rose though, who thinks about that sort of thing when they're a kid after all? No, the impressive reputation was something they knew about, as one of those things everyone seems to know, but it was the other things that made it special.

Heck, if they hadn't already gone to school in Canada, the Potter kids were both fairly certain they'd have been anticipating going to Hogwarts quite badly, especially if they'd grown up there, as that would mean the media hype wouldn't be quite as great as it was.

Both of them were even starting to make some friends at Hogwarts now.

Both of them also hoped to never again have to switch schools, they didn't think they'd settle as easily at a third school.

xxxxx

After classes that day, Harry, along with all three of his familiars and Reinforce, teleported to their home in Japan. Of course, with the time difference between countries, it was the middle of the night in Japan right then, instead of mid-afternoon, like it was back in Scotland.

The first thing that Harry did on arrival was head to the kitchen to make drinks and snacks for everyone. As he did so, he wondered what it was that Reinforce wanted to talk about. He could feel her seriousness and concern through their close bond, but she seemed to be purposefully preventing as much as she could from flowing across that link, whether that was so she didn't worry him, or something else, he didn't know.

When he came back into the room, he set everything down on a coffee table and took a seat. Before Reinforce could begin speaking though, he turned to what the others thought was empty air and spoke to whatever it was that apparently only he could currently see.

"You might as well step forward as well, I appreciate other points of view myself, and I _do_ listen to them too. I've already got my shade playing the part of a silent shadow every now and then, I don't need another three doing the same." Harry said.

Three black swirls then appeared in the air behind Harry, before settling into the form of three beings that Harry had told them about, but that they had yet to actually meet, the three reapers that were bound to the three Deathly Hallows. They looked, like Harry had said, like black skeletons, wearing slightly ragged black cloaks, and holding a black scythe in their hands.

Loki privately wondered if they had a fetish for the colour black or something. The only way to tell them apart was by the colour of their glowing eyes. The female reaper had red eyes, that and purple being standard for 'female' reapers. Males apparently usually had a shade of either blue or green. Occasionally a reaper would have yellow eyes, but that was very rare. One of the males now bound to Harry had icy blue eyes, and the other had turquoise.

"_I don't know what we could offer to this discussion, saviour, we will simply follow where you lead, and obey your commands._" The one with turquoise eyes said deferentially. If he recalled right, this one was the reaper from the wand that had been greatly weakened, even more than his siblings, due to frequent use of his 'jail'.

"_We'll listen for anything we feel is stupid and tell you so._" The female said, far more blunt and to the point than her brother.

The third reaper merely nodded in agreement with his sister and kept silent.

"Okay, thanks." Harry said to her, before turning to Reinforce. "Now, shall we get down to what you wanted to talk about?"

Reinforce nodded. "We need to do something about James Potter." She stated. "I'm sure you heard the rumours today, well, they're true, and it was our room he forced himself into. I took the liberty of transferring everything here, and believe that we should stay here to sleep, and only teleport back to Scotland for lessons, if that."

"Do you know why he forced his way into our quarters, and whether he did so with permission or not?" Loki asked immediately.

"I don't know why, but as Harry had a lesson scheduled at that time, I believe he was going to look through our things. What he would be searching for exactly, I couldn't say. I doubt he had permission, as he had to force his way in after all, and he was using concealment spells as well to remain unseen." Reinforce replied.

"So, the first question is 'What do we do about James Potter?', but there's a few other things we need to think on." Loki grimly added. "While we're so far keeping the general public on our side, it won't last forever. The newspapers I've read seem to be playing both sides, making an odd sort of balance, but all it will take is one slight tip and they'll be baying for blood.

"Historically, wizards have always had a sort of 'sheep' mentality, from what I've read. They tend to follow the strongest person around, becoming nothing more than 'yes' men to whoever baas the loudest. In more recent history, however, a change in the social dynamic came around, and instead of one big herd of sheep, there's now several smaller groups, though they're all lead by someone of power and/or influence."

"Which groups have you concerned?" Harry asked seriously.

"That doesn't matter too much right now. Suffice to say, we have two groups definitely against us, one definitely on our side, and at least three more that are simply watching and waiting." Loki told him. "That's already two to one against us, and this is just the stuff I've been able to find out myself, my talents lie in finding information and interpreting it, not human psychology and behaviour. There's likely stuff I've missed, and I'm sure it will come around and bite us on the ass if we ignore it."

"You're saying that the end you've thought up is inevitable then?" Isis glowered at Loki, not at all happy about the way things were going.

"I'm saying that if we leave it alone, there's only one path I can really see it going down." Loki defended himself. "However, there _is_ the possibility of us taking control of it ourselves. Instead of trying to put the end off indefinitely, we can choose when and how the truth comes out, giving us some much needed influence on how news spreads, and _what_ news spreads."

"You have a plan?" Bast asked calmly, though her posture was rigid and her fists were clenched.

"Of a sort." Loki nodded. "We can put things off for several months yet, which gives us time to prepare. Harry has also begun the Japanese school work, as well as integrating himself into the community there. I'm thinking that we can throw things in their faces and go into a sort of 'willing exile'. Their school year beginning in April as opposed to September fits our time limit too. Rather useful, no?"

"That's tantamount to admitting guilt." Isis retorted. "We don't want them becoming suspicious of us, as you _know_ there are those that would pounce on that like a dog on a bone!"

"Not if, as we leave, Harry talks about how disappointed he is in all of the accusations being pointed his way with no verifiable proof. Of course, if the results of the Unspeakables' scans and tests were to be leaked just as they were feeling guilty for driving us away, or at least before anyone can try and make us out to be evil monsters, then we may be able to make a fairly clean break." Loki suggested.

The female reaper, however, wanted to ask something herself. "_Could you not reveal these Unspeakable documents before having to flee? Would they not solidify your position in that country?_"

Loki shook his head. "Believe it or not, the Unspeakables aren't trusted very much in Britain, probably in part to how 'mysterious' they are and how hush hush their work usually is. They're the ones who push magic to the limit, see what can happen, and record dangerous and rare things. They're seen as a combination of mad inventor, shady scientist, record keepers, and a bit above the law. After all, some of the things they research aren't _quite_ allowed by regular citizens.

"That's why bringing stuff out before we've got them in a somewhat contemplative mood wouldn't do much to us. However, doing so after Harry's made a spectacle of things, and at least shocked them awake, would have a bigger impact and force them to think before they open their mouths."

"_If you say so, that just sounds crazy to me._" The female reaper shrugged. "_Then again, there are few humans who don't make me think the entire race is crazy. I sometimes wonder if they've only gotten so far by finding out what can kill them and avoiding it._"

"Not too inaccurate that." Harry snorted to himself. "The greatest thing about humans is curiosity. Every last one of us... them thinks, at least once in our... their lives, 'I wonder what that does?', or 'what would happen if?..', or 'Is it possible?'" Harry hesitated over his words, wondering if he should refer to himself as human or not.

"I wonder what it would take to get Harry into my bed?" Isis mused aloud, giving Harry a very lustful look, and totally breaking the serious atmosphere that had slowly been lightening.

"At least another two years." Harry replied blandly, fighting down a blush. "For goodness sake, Isis, please remember how young I am. I'd much rather you save your perverse comments for when I'm a more appropriate age than thirteen."

"I'll try, my lovely little boy." She winked at him, and Harry had no doubt that she wouldn't 'try' very hard.

"We've gotten off topic." Reinforce, still using a serious tone of voice, interrupted them. "Before we even think about the next step, we need to answer that question, 'what are we going to do about James Potter?'"

Harry frowned, what could they do to James Potter?

He didn't mean that literally, of course. It was well within his power to simply kill the man in his sleep, but he didn't want to do that. All it would take was he or one of the reapers using the Astral Plane to slip past any magical protections he has in place, and then killing him while he slept, helpless to stop it.

He also had to do something to get him to back off. If he was going so far as to break into his room at Hogwarts, then the man wasn't going to give up trying to find something to pin on Harry. Imagine if Harry had left some notes for his advanced combat golems lying around like he usually did, or perhaps something on necromancy?

No, something _had_ to be done.

Luckily, Harry had something in mind.


	19. Approaching Winter

AN: Another chapter that could have been longer, but hopefully the fact it comes so close on the heels of the previous one makes up for it, ne? Anyway, this chapter is basically filling in some time before the next load of events takes place. The next one after this should skip over November for the most part, and then pull us into the Christmas stuff, which may take a chapter or two itself. Anyway, please enjoy it! Also, I'm looking for a new beta, anyone interested?

Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 19 – Approaching Winter

James Potter was wondering just where and when everything in his life had started going wrong. He was a good man, wasn't he? He had a loving life, two awesome kids, even if his daughter was more than a bit strange, and he just went on living his life like any other normal person would.

So why did he find himself being confined to a single room by his old headmaster?

Dumbledore had managed to smooth over things with the Ravenclaws who had found him in their common room – unconscious and with his clothing partially destroyed thanks to whatever had hit him – but had immediately shut him up in the guest rooms he and his wife were currently living in.

Everything had been as close to perfect as he could want just that past summer. He'd been living a comfortable life, his family was happy and healthy, and no one in the Wizarding World knew where they were. He'd gotten careless then, thinking that no one would even think to look for them in Canada.

Then Amelia bloody Bones had to turn up and ruin everything! He was certain that the thing masquerading as his deceased child had something to do with that, it was simply too much of a coincidence. Now, James knew that sneaking into a student's room wasn't something that could be so easily dismissed, but maybe if he had a reason for doing it things would be okay...

Damn, if only he had his old invisibility cloak, things would be so much easi- Wait, that's it! He'd almost forgotten about it because he'd been trying to sort out whatever alliances he could that his family had, but hadn't Dumbledore said he'd gifted the thing with the family invisibility cloak in its first year?

Yes, if he said he was retrieving a Potter family heirloom, then things could be brushed under the rug. After all, magical Britain _loved_ family things, whether that be bloodline gifts such as metamorphmagus abilities, family magic passed down from parent to child, or enchanted objects with a lot of history attached to them. James vaguely recalled his mother talking to his father about how angry the Smith family was when Hufflepuff's cup had gone missing, especially as they were supposed to be descended from the founder.

He could also claim the cloak back, as it really _was_ a Potter family heirloom, and '_Harry_' was no longer a Potter, not after James had removed him from the family. There were so many things James could do with that cloak, and perhaps he could finally gather the evidence he needed to prove that he was right, that '_Harry_' was _not_ his son!

xxxxx

On the other side of the world, it was the early hours of the morning. At Mahoutokoro, the Japanese magical school, the dormitories consisted of two buildings, one for males and one for females. There were students who didn't live on site that travelled every morning and afternoon to and from school, but not many.

A handful of these students had recently sent letters to one Harry Ritter, a number of them wishing for a pen pal that could help them with their English, while others were curious about the person himself, the magic used in the West, or something else.

One of those who had sent Harry a letter, A Yuki-Onna named Tsurara Inoue, was lying awake despite the hour. There were several things responsible for her remaining awake at that time. The main thing was how she was considered something of a failure of a Yuki-Onna.

She had almost zero aptitude for ice manipulation. She had more success with lightning than she did ice, and that was something that Yuki-Onna traditionally had trouble with. She excelled with Illusions, probably due to her Yoko grandfather, who had taught her when she was a young girl, and who she had likely inherited the skill from.

Tsurara was also considered somewhat expendable by her more harsh clan members, because she would never have children of her own. A Yuki-Onna's body was cold, and that wasn't a good thing for the eggs in their bodies, and very few of her race could bear children past the age of twenty-five. Tsurara, despite her lack of skill with ice manipulation, had one of the lowest internal body temperatures ever recorded for her race, and her ovaries had failed when she was barely nine years old.

Still, the girl had her pride, and she strived to be the best she could be with what she had. Her scores in school were really high, and while she was only ranked 'fourth' in Illusions in her year, she still managed to beat a number of students who had better natural skill than she did, including several kitsune.

Because of her drive to do her best, and the whispers and rumours from other Yuki-Onna students, Tsurara didn't have many friends. She hadn't really thought this 'Harry Ritter' would be one either, but she was happy for the opportunity to improve her foreign language skills, and so had written to him with that in mind.

The reply letter she received had been polite, but not as distant as she thought it would be, especially as she knew she was one of a number of students who was writing to him. His reply was personalised as well, and he'd attached a list of several western spells he knew that dealt with ice.

A small smile crossed her face as she imagined hitting one of her less pleasant cousins with a 'snowball' spell, or using a frost spell to make one of them slip up. No one would link it to her unless they saw her do it, she was known to be useless with snow and ice after all.

She wondered if Harry – he'd said she could use his first name, as he wasn't quite used to the Japanese convention of referring to someone by their surname – would appreciate some of the notes she'd sent back with her following letter. Apparently he was trying to see how much he could learn about Japanese styles of magic and may possibly transfer over to Mahoutokoro as well. She'd decided to give him a little help there and had copied her notes from her own lessons for him to read through, hopefully they would do some good.

Perhaps... perhaps this Harry may even become a friend. She'd like that.

xxxxx

Tsurara wasn't the only one who'd sent Harry another letter. Others had as well, and each of them was just as individual as each other's. The Oni that enjoyed playing musical instruments had sent along a vial containing memories from several of the times he and his friends had played together. An Ame-Onna had asked him about several magical plants native to Britain that were rather rare elsewhere, and whether he might be able to find her some seeds. A Tengu sent him several photos of Mahoutokoro and asked if Harry could send him some photos of Hogwarts in return.

All these and more were sent to Scotland, to Harry Ritter. When they arrived, Harry would read through each of them and write out a reply just as individual as each letter that was sent to him. As time would pass, the similarities between letters would decrease even further, as Harry became more familiar with each individual he was in contact with.

That's getting ahead of things right now though, what was occurring in the present is much more relevant.

Harry had discussed the potential locations of the remaining horcruxes with his reapers, his familiars, Reinforce, and the Uminari group. Nanoha thought they should just use a Wide Area Search spell to find them, but as was pointed out to her, that wasn't exactly the most discrete method of searching for something.

Goodness knows what the goblins would think or do if they found their tunnels infested with flying pink lights. Harry's opinion was that they would either close the bank until they'd found out what they were, or possibly flip out and declare the next goblin and wizard war.

They'd started wars for less after all.

Nanoha had then gone on to ask how they were supposed to find something if they weren't going to even search? If what Harry said was true, and the goblins didn't care what they stored in their vaults, then they were going to _have_ to do something illegal to get into them.

Unfortunately, she was right. Gringotts _was_ goblin territory, and there laws governed the entire place. They did have treaties and agreements with various wizarding communities, but most of them were written along the lines of 'You can store our gold, but we have access to it, and so neither side will go to war with the other'.

It was actually rather interesting how things were set up. The goblins literally had a monopoly and a stranglehold on the wizarding world's currency, which forced witches and wizards to at least not offend them too badly. The magical humans, on the other hand, were safe in the knowledge that the goblins protected their gold very well.

That was part of the problem though, the goblins guarded the vaults _very_ well. Aside from their habit of hoarding everything they could get their hands on, including old and forgotten magic, they had their own brand of magic as well, just like house elves did, and so no matter what forbidden, ancient, or simply 'unpleasant' magic Harry learned of, he could never be sure that he was prepared for everything he might encounter in the goblin tunnels.

The goblins only advertised a handful of protections available for each vault. There was the standard key locks, there were blood-based ones, password protected ones, and various others that had all sorts of requirements for allowing one entry to the vault, much like the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room asked someone a riddle.

Then there were the doors without such 'simple' locks, like ones which could only be opened by a goblin with the right authorisation. There were even rumours of doors that would suck someone in if they didn't fulfil the requirements, and be sealed into the vault and kept there until they died and rotted away.

Higher level vaults could also be guarded by dangerous creatures, anything up to and including rank five dangerous beasts, such as dragons, chimaera, manticores, and even nundu for the really daring – or suicidal as some would say – and as Gringotts was goblin territory, the same restrictions that the wizarding world had didn't apply there.

Of course, it wasn't the magical creatures that Harry was worried about, and if a regular witch or wizard actually thought about it, they wouldn't be much of a threat to them either. A fourth year could conjure chains, it was only a step up from rope, and animate it to wrap itself around an opponent. Such an 'attack' would easily take care of the physically inclined beasts at least, and there _were_ methods of cancelling out or avoiding other things, such as dragon fire.

Magical enchantments were a concern, as they could be both subtle and lethal at the same time. Nanoha might believe that a Barrier Jacket would protect her from low power spells easily, but that was Mid-Childan and Belkan style magic, which, if Harry was being honest, was rather like hitting someone with a large, blunt hammer.

How would a Barrier Jacket protect one from a conjured poison gas? How would it deal with mental compulsions or something like a dementor's natural abilities? Truthfully, it simply couldn't, and it was what made Harry believe that Terran magic was, if anything, far more dangerous than Mid-Childan and Belkan styles of magic.

They all seemed to forget that, while the material for Harry's golems came from off world, the techniques used to animate and power them were purely Terran. There was a reason, after all, that Harry was not, as he sometimes referred to Nanoha, a 'beam spammer' Bombardment style mage despite his reserves being more than enough to match the others.

No, sometimes subtle and complex beat out raw power, and that was why Harry was being so careful, and dare he say it, respectful of whatever the goblins may have in store for any intruders. He'd been more blasé about the protections on Voldemort's other horcruxes primarily because the memories he'd ripped out of the other horcruxes had told him how they were protected, as well as what magic Voldemort knew and could have implemented at a later date.

He'd proven that a Barrier Jacket was little use against several forms of Terran magic in a spar with Nanoha later. He'd set several traps around the 'battlefield' beforehand – underhanded, yes, but definitely effective – that had completely messed Nanoha up.

It was hard to fight when a rune trap using a sticking charm had kept her from flying into the air, and she wasn't able to move enough to dodge a disarming charm that had ripped Raising Heart out of her hands. A confounding curse had confused her just as easily as it would anyone else, and when she had finally managed to get into the air, she'd been forced to dodge something like fifty bludgers that Harry had made and enchanted beforehand, giving her no real chance to cast any large scale magic at him, which required a charge up time.

She was right when she had said, afterwards, that one Starlight Breaker would have completed destroyed everything and all of his preparations would have been for nothing. However, Harry was also right when he'd told her that it didn't matter how powerful a spell was if she wasn't given the opportunity to cast it or if she was incapacitated before it was cast.

That was also the reason Harry favoured Terran magic and the bracers on his forearms, the casting time was low and he didn't have to stop moving to attack. When he did use Mid-Childan or Belkan magic, he tended towards the quicker spells as well. He _would_ have said lower ranked spells, but Bloody Daggers, a favourite of his, was AAA ranked after all.

Nanoha had pouted after that, and it wasn't only Harry who ignored her muttering about how unfair Terran magic was and how it cheated and didn't play by the rules. Judging by the look in their eyes though, both Fate and Hayate were as amused as he was, though both vocally agreed with how they thought Terran magic was 'cheating' because there wasn't very much it couldn't do.

Harry had responded in a very mature and grown up manner, transfiguring a pile of leaves into an army of stuffed toys that buried the girls in a pile of their small bodies, squeaky little voices declaring their victory over the 'tyrannical' foreigners.

That had been a fun day for Harry. The next, unfortunately, wasn't as pleasant.

That was the day James Potter demanded the invisibility cloak back.

The problem? The invisibility cloak really wasn't 'invisible' any longer.

Harry had, after all, freed the reaper trapped in there.

xxxxx

"What is this?" James growled after he'd thrown the cloak over his shoulders.

"It's the cloak that the headmaster gifted me for Christmas back in first year." Harry replied calmly, his eyes flickering to the man himself.

They were currently in the Headmaster's office, with Harry being backed up by his three familiars – a rarity, as recently Loki and Isis had been intensely focused on sparring with each other and pushing themselves as hard as they could – while James and Lily were both there as well, along with their two children. Dumbledore and an Unspeakable, one Harry hadn't met yet, were the only others there, the former due to it being his office, and the latter to confirm that the cloak was actually a Potter artefact.

"No it isn't!" James snapped. "This thing has absolutely no enchantments on it at all!"

The Unspeakable, using the 'name' Scroll, cast several spells at the cloak.

"The material is over a thousand years old, and there is a great deal of residue on it." He or She, it was impossible to tell, said. "I do not believe that a thirteen year old could find something like this easily, so it likely is the artefact he claims it is."

"Then why isn't it working?" James' eyes flashed with anger as he shouted at the Unspeakable.

Harry wasn't surprised that James was pissed off. The cloak truly was ancient, as the Peverell brothers had died a very long time ago, and no one knew how the Hallows had been made, none aside from Harry that was, and that was only because he was one of the rare few that chose to study Necromancy and survived the experience. It was likely that, if Harry wasn't the only true necromancer currently in the world, then they could probably be counted on one hand, with fingers to spare too.

That was a rather depressing thought when one recalled how unskilled Harry was with Necromancy, not being able to defeat that Revenant rather stung Harry's pride. His skill with magic was great, his versatility and power both high, but limit him to Necromancy only and he could only do a few basic things.

He was glad his reapers were teaching him the handful of things they knew. Without them, and without the two things his shade had been able to impart to him, Harry would have had to literally create techniques and invocations from scratch, and considering that Tiet was the energy of life and death, survival wasn't guaranteed when experimenting with it.

In fact, necromancers had a stupidly high death rate compared to those who studied other disciplines. Becoming a necromancer could be fatal, experimenting with new techniques could easily be fatal, attempting to deal with spirits beyond your ability was almost always fatal, and then there was the persecution necromancers faced due to how their chosen field was often misinterpreted and both hated and feared.

"The cloak stopped working rather recently." Harry sighed. "As it is now, the cloak is exactly that, just a cloak."

The Unspeakable agreed. "Perhaps the cloak needs to be... 'reactivated' in some manner? As it was in Mr. Ritter's possession when he was removed from the Potter family, it is possible the magic rejected him. However, even I cannot tell how the magic of this cloak could be restored. I would suggest you look through the journals of your ancestors, Mr. Potter, perhaps you will find your answer there."

Harry knew they wouldn't. The cloak was a _Peverell_ artefact, and that family had been extinct since the thirteen hundreds. The last Peverell had, in fact, contracted a magical parasite that was also now extinct, and in his zeal to rid himself of it had not only killed himself, but completely and utterly destroyed his own home and everything in it.

Coincidentally, that was also around the same time that Fiendfyre first came up in spell development history books.

"Understood." James said stiffly, before taking the cloak off his shoulders and marching out of the Headmaster's office. Lily, looking concerned for her husband, immediately went after him. The Unspeakable bid everyone farewell, and even shook hands with Dumbledore, Harry, and the Potter children, before leaving through the floo.

Harry, his familiars, Brian, and Rose left the same way James and Lily had, through the door and down the staircase into the castle proper. At the bottom of the winding staircase, beyond the gargoyle, Harry paused as he felt the eyes of the Potter children focus on him.

"Yes?" He asked curiously.

"Was that... really an invisibility cloak?" Brian asked. "It's just, I remember asking for one when I was younger, and I remember dad got me one too, but those things are bloody expensive, and it only last three years before it stopped working properly, and even before that it had a couple tears in it."

Harry chuckled. "And you're wondering about an invisibility cloak that's been passed down parent to child for over a thousand years, yet remains both intact and working? Of course, this same cloak just so happens to 'fail' when its previous owner tries to claim it back."

Loki glanced at the two. "Like the Unspeakable said, the cloak _was_ very old, and the residue left on it is very potent. To have the spells woven into it last as long as they did, it must have taken an immense amount of power to keep it going. So yes, that _was_ an invisibility cloak, but as you saw when your father tried it on, it no longer works as such."

"Do any of you know how to make an awesome cloak like that?" Rose piped up.

Harry huffed out a half-laugh. "Making an invisibility cloak isn't exactly difficult, pretty much anyone can do it. However, there's a massive difference in the quality of cloaks that can be made. I believe that I know how to make a pretty good cloak myself, but I personally prefer concealment spells."

"Why?" Rose asked curiously.

"Because it's easier to move about with a spell on compared to having a blanket thrown over your head." Harry replied. "Why are you asking, do you want an invisibility cloak of your own?"

"I wouldn't mind one." Rose admitted unashamedly. "I don't think I'm good enough to cast the concealment spells either, so if you're offering, then yes, I would love an invisibility cloak."

Harry paused at hearing that, before letting out a laugh. This wasn't a chuckle, but an actual laugh, one that sounded rather pleasant despite the raspy quality his voice still retained. He didn't know why, but Rose's blunt way of speaking amused him to no end.

"Ah, sure, I'll see what I can do for you." Harry told her. "Both of you in fact. I know several different ways cloaks can be made, I'll see if I can either merge them together or make something myself."

Demiguise hair and woven runes, perhaps soaked in a potion or two and imbued with certain properties? Usually, only one method was used, but there was no reason not to mix several of them together, so long as he made sure none of the different methods clashed with each other.

"Thank you." Rose chirped happily.

Brian sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, used to his sister's antics. He glanced down a hallway he was fairly certain his parents had gone done, before looking back at Harry. Brian didn't see what his dad did, he saw a really smart kid who was trying to be more grown up than he was, and at least partially succeeding. He could admit that Harry was a bit scary, but he wasn't a monster.

"Sorry about dad." Brian said to Harry. "He's been really wound up lately, and he's not really thinking straight. If he just calmed down... maybe things would be different, but everything he sees is just bringing up memories and stuff. We've heard more stories about him and his friends in the last month than we have in forever."

"You have no reason to apologise." Harry waved him off. "Honestly, I seriously doubt I and your father will ever be anything but antagonistic towards each other, we're just... perhaps 'too different' will suffice? Regardless, whether I get along with your father or not, I wouldn't mind getting to know the two of you."

"Sure thing!" Rose readily agreed.

"Okay, why not?" Brian also agreed, though less enthusiastically than his sister.

After that, the group stayed together for a few hours, discussing things such as their hobbies, their likes and dislikes, what food they liked, and what skills they had. Brian had taken after his father in that he was pretty damn good at Transfiguration, but he was rather interested in Harry's golem creation, while Rose enjoyed finding either obscure uses for common spells, or common uses for obscure spells. Brian just said she liked to be contradictory.

Harry, in turn, told them off his fondness for both subtle and complex magic. One other thing that he shared with them was that he was working on building up his body's resistance to various poisons and toxins, and when asked why he was doing so, he asked them 'why not?' He didn't mention that he was contemplating using poisons himself, or at least paralytic ones, and that he could only imagine how much more effective his Beelzebub golems would be with such substances imbued into their metal bodies.

Eventually the two groups parted ways, the Potters were going to their common room to do some of their homework, and Harry's group were going to spar a bit more, before focusing on some of their individual projects.

This meant that Loki would be experimenting with various spells that he wanted to alter or combine, and even a few that Hound, the head Unspeakable, had asked him to test out. Isis was reading a few books on healing, and had asked Harry to try and infuse a crystal with Tiet for her to experiment with, her current project was her attempting to develop a spell that would allow limbs to regenerate. Harry's project was simply hurrying his golems along. At the rate things were going, he was becoming rather hopeful that he'd have the seven of them finished in a week or so.

Lindy had said that she wanted to test out how effective his golems were, and that she was going to put them through, with no input or direction from Harry, some of the TSAB's rank exams to see how effective they were, both individually and as a group.

Harry was aware that she would be sending a report to her higher ups, who were no doubt eager to understand Harry's abilities. He was, after all, an unknown to them, and one with his level of power wasn't someone you wanted to remain an unknown. It was the sort of thing that Loki would think up, but it was also not something Harry had a problem with them learning.

How far he'd come with his Necromancy however, that was another matter entirely. The _only_ ones who knew exactly what he could do with Tiet were his familiars and Reinforce. The one who came closest to them after that was Fate, and even she only really knew a few vague things about the Astral Plane and the spirits that resided there, in addition to the fact he had a shade in his service of course.

Harry's amusement tailed off as he channelled a small amount of Tiet to his eyes, allowing him to see the three reapers who were even now following close by him. The three, from what Harry could hear, were talking about old times, fond memories, and other positive things. It was probably an effort to not feel so weak.

The third reaper, the one that had been sealed inside the wand, had had it the worst out of all three of them. He was so weak that Harry had taken to giving him daily infusions of Tiet in order to help him, and had been forced to put his exploration of the Astral Plane on hold too.

Harry wondered if the three reapers would ever see fit to tell him their names. His shade hadn't given him its name, but shades shed their identities like a snake did a skin. Literally, the only way to tell one shade from another was by what they knew; they looked identical, their voices were identical, even their habits were nigh identical.

"I'm thinking too much, I need to cut back." Harry murmured to himself under his breath, massaging his head as he felt a headache coming.

xxxxx

Several weeks passed without any major incidents. Oh, there was a few minor things that popped up, as they did every year at Hogwarts. Some students hexed each other in the corridors when their tempers got away from them, some of the older students set off the wards when they tried to go a bit beyond a kiss with their boyfriends or girlfriends, and the rumour mill was as active as it ever was.

In October, James once again brought up his 'concerns' regarding Harry, and once again he was pretty much ignored, despite the small amount of 'evidence' he'd managed to gather. Really, what he'd managed to cobble together could be considered circumstantial at best.

Still, while it had only been a month since the last time he'd made such claims, it seemed people _had_ been thinking about the possibility. Voldemort was something that everyone in Wizarding Britain had nightmares about, and even a decade after he was gone, only a handful even felt brave enough to speak his pseudonym aloud, and their habits had been passed onto the next generation.

Playing on that fear was a rather devious idea, though he didn't know if James had intended to do that or not, and the longer it went on, the worse things could get. Unfortunately, there was little that Harry could do. He was, after all, only thirteen, and still a student as well.

The only sort of thing that would definitively put him above those accusations would be if he discovered the cure for lycanthropy or something equally immense, and while Harry had poked his nose into the werewolf issue, he had absolutely no idea how one would go about 'curing' such a thing.

Lycanthropy was less of an illness and more of a mutagen transferred via saliva in particular conditions. The light reflecting off the moon's surface acted like an activator for the mutagen when properly focused, transforming them into a werewolf at the full moon. However, the confusing thing was where they turned back into humans afterwards.

Werewolves, it was known, had heightened senses, strength, speed, and even a healing factor. That was also true when the full moon wasn't out, and it was the healing factor which is what allowed them to return to a human form when the mutagen wasn't active.

Of course, despite knowing all of this, Harry couldn't think up a way to reverse the process. Well, he could think of several ways to reverse the mutation and return someone to human form, but the survival rate for such a thing would be a tiny fraction of a single percent, as going too fast would cause damage, and going too slowly would cause organs to become incompatible with the rest of the body part-way through the process.

Harry kept his head down, giving James absolutely nothing to work with. Perhaps if he didn't have anything substantial to take before the Wizengamot, one of them might move to stop James constantly bringing it up, though that was unlikely. Many topics were brought up repeatedly in Wizengamot meetings, some so much that they were almost timetabled into the meeting.

There was usually some complaint or other about non-human magical races, be they centaurs being territorial, a colony of merrow spreading a little beyond the regular limits imposed on them by wizards due to their growing population, boggarts taking up residence in the home of muggle children, or something else.

Of course, talks about muggleborns almost _always_ turned up as well. Harry had to admit that some of their complaints were occasionally legitimate, the Daily Prophet from five years previously had reported on the particularly devout parents of one muggleborn who had fully believed in biblical passage 'thou shalt not suffer a witch to live' and had attempted to blow up Diagon Alley with a bomb when a professor had taken their son there to shop for school supplies.

Of course, such incidents were few and far between, but certain elements of the Wizengamot cherry-picked the worst of cases to support their opinions and proposals. Admittedly, that was a somewhat effective tactic, but also one that was fairly easily countered by someone doing the exact opposite of that.

Still, despite everything that was going on, Harry put some time aside to simply relax every now and then. His letters to Japan were actually helping him here, as he found himself rather enjoying the various discussions he had going with the yokai of Mahoutokoro. Keeping track of so many different letters was also helping him develop his Occlumency further, and increased the number of magic clones he could use by four without undue mental strain.

His golems were complete now, and Lindy had booked them into the ranking exams to coincide with the Christmas holidays. He was putting the Pleiades golems and the Siegfried golems through the tests, as the others weren't really appropriate for them, and they'd start off with a C rank exam and move up to B rank, and if they passed that one too, they'd go onto A rank.

Personally, Harry thought the golems would be able to do the B rank exam, they were well constructed and he had faith in them as well. They worked better if they worked as a group, they were _meant_ to be used together, so he hadn't discounted the possibility that individually they may only register as C rank.

Still, C rank was quite an achievement for a golem by itself, and something that Harry could be happy with. Not that he'd stop trying to improve them of course, he liked to tinker with his creations, improving them were and when he could. It made him wonder if he was trying to impress someone, or if he just had some sort of drive for self-improvement built into his nature or something.

One thing he was still concerned about, however, was NachtWal.

He might have been mistaken when he thought he'd perhaps felt it react to the boggart and amplify his own negative emotions, but them again that might have been exactly what happened, he couldn't be sure, and he was rather reluctant to search out a boggart to test out his theory.

What _was_ NachtWal though? It was the defence program from the Tome of the Night Sky that became corrupted, and leading to it becoming known as the Book of Darkness, but what _was_ it? A mass of broken coding should not react with anything resembling fear. Self preservation, perhaps, but the remains of it in Harry seemed dormant, and it wasn't regenerating at all.

It made Harry rather uncomfortable, but unfortunately, he didn't know what he _could_ do about it.

He would simply have to wait and see, just like anyone else.


	20. Grimmauld Place

AN: Okay, here's the next chapter, and I have a few things to say. First off, for those who want to know about my other fic, I already have a rough draft for the next chapter of it, but it's in need of serious work. Hopefully, it should be out this month, but don't be surprised if it's not. Second, I've somehow ended up on the Prince's Trust twelve week course thing, so my time is going to be limited (especially as I have a residential trip for a week in a fortnight), so there's that too. Third, I have a new beta reader, let's all wish him luck! Please enjoy the story.

Beta'd by: The trolling SnarkLord

Chapter 20 – Grimmauld Place

Harry leaned forwards, not quite believing what he was seeing. Having decided to 'scout out' Gringotts on the Astral Plane, he and his reapers had gone to London and shifted to the Astral Plane. Not wanting to be too close to Diagon Alley when he did so, he'd been standing on the roof of Big Ben when he'd shifted. Something that was quite fortunate in hindsight.

"What... What _is_ that?" Harry murmured, eyes wide as he gaped at what existed where he knew Diagon Alley was in the Material World.

"_A high level Astral Spirit by the look of it, maybe high fifth __Class__ or low sixth._" One of the reapers commented. "_It looks like a __sessile-type to me, and that's both good and bad._"

"How do you even know that word?" Harry muttered to himself, though he knew what she meant by a 'sessile-type' despite it not being a commonly used word. A sessile, or stationary, animal is one that spent its life anchored in one place, like barnacles, mussels, or limpets.

The Astral Spirit Harry could see appeared to qualify as well. There was a massive sink hole, roughly a mile across, and coming out of that hole were massive, thick tentacles, apparently all originating from a single spirit that resided in those dark depths.

He sighed. "Well, it looks like we can't use the Astral Plane to infiltrate Gringotts, I don't want to go anywhere _near_ that thing." Harry shuddered, remembering how much trouble he'd had with a 'mere' Class three revenant. He did _not_ want to tangle with something that was two, or possibly three, levels higher than that!

"_Scared, master?_" The female reaper asked, amusement lacing her double-toned voice.

"Yes, I am." Harry replied bluntly. "I can't beat a Class three spirit, what hope do I have against a Class five, or worse a Class six spirit? Even with the 'Glyphs' you're teaching me to use, I'm far from being a competent fighter, at least in regards to Astral Spirits."

'Glyphs' being what his female reaper was teaching him. She only knew six though; 'Shift', 'Force', 'Stone', 'Stun', 'Water', 'Fire', and 'Purify'.

Shift created a portal that allowed one to instantly switch between the Astral and Material Planes, and Harry was attempting to combine it with a high speed movement spell to create a sort of short range 'teleport' ability. Force was exactly that, a blast of directed motion, useful for knocking things back, pushing them aside, or pulling them towards you. Stone could be used to temporarily petrify others around the caster.

Stun did exactly as it suggested, though it could also cause disorientation. Water, despite the name, acted more like acid rain that ate away at those it fell on, and could be used on the Astral Plane despite water having about as much presence as air there.

Fire caused several expanding rings of blazing power to erupt around Harry, burning away at anything that was caught within his range. Purify was harmless to everything except Astral Spirits, but against them it was extremely potent and ripped them apart at the most basic level.

Of course, these Glyphs were only as powerful as Harry could make them, and at present, that wasn't particularly strong. Fire and Purify also took a hell of a lot out of him, and Water took quite a chunk out of his reserves too. He also had to pause and concentrate long enough to sketch the glyph in the air in front of him.

Harry sighed once more, his Wraith-blade appearing in his right hand. His left hand traced the Force glyph at the base of blade, where it connected to the hilt, causing it to appear there, before it flickered and failed. He almost pouted at his failure, as he'd been trying to enhance his Wraith-blade with glyphs ever since he'd started learning them.

One of the reapers, a male one, had noticed Harry's actions, and laughed lightly. "_An interesting concept, though I don't even know if such a thing is possible. Keep trying, young necromancer, perhaps you will eventually succeed._"

Harry just hummed non-committally as he tried again, only glancing down when the glyph was finished to see if it stayed in place. He mostly kept his eyes focused on the gigantic Astral Spirit and the pit it resided in. He did glance around to see what other spirits he could see around, especially some of the larger ones.

Several 'streets' over, Harry could see a fight going on between several spirits, each around twice the height of a house, and there were a number of 'flying' spirits that also caught his eye. He winced slightly as one of the massive tentacles of the higher class spirit wrapped itself around one of the 'giant' spirits and dragged it into the pit.

Harry snorted. "Do you think the goblins set Gringotts up here _because_ of that spirit?" He asked his reapers.

"_Doubtful, but possible._" One of the reapers answered him.

Another reaper made a noise of agreement. "_They likely put their bank there because it's a place of power. A greater Astral Spirit leaks their 'presence' more than a lesser spirit does, and the more powerful a spirit is, the more 'reality' is twisted around them, even on the Material Plane._"

The third decided to add something as well. "_It's almost certain there's something like this at your school too, considering that it's a place of power as well, and given that the founders existed around the same time as... our captors, they may possibly have had the knowledge necessary to bind such a being._"

Harry frowned. "I thought Hogwarts was where it was because it was situated over several intersecting leylines?" Harry queried.

"_Where do you think leylines get their power?_" One of the reapers asked him. "_They are the paths of the Astral Plane that connect the lairs of the greater spirits, the ones that don't travel too much at least. Did you really believe that the different layers of Planes didn't __affect one another despite lying atop each other?_"

"I didn't think of that, no." Harry admitted. "I expected there to be places where the barriers between Planes was thin, and that those places may become a little... strange, but I didn't expect them to be tied as closely together as that. They almost seem to be different worlds really. Then again, the Wizarding and Muggle worlds are separate, and they exist right next to each other."

The reapers offered no comment to that, and the four of them simply stayed where they were, watching the flailing tentacles of the greater spirit less than a mile away from them.

xxxxx

Sirius Black was feeling better than he had done in more than a decade. He wasn't skin and bone any longer, and he was putting on a bit of much needed weight. His hair was regaining its lustre, his skin wasn't as pale and waxy, and his eyes were getting back some of their life. The new clothes he was wearing and a shave didn't hurt either.

What wasn't going so well was the whole mess that was happening right now. He was over the moon that James was alive, and with Remus still around too, it was almost like the Marauders had returned! He didn't count Peter, the little bastard, who he would gladly kill if he ever managed to escape Azkaban, where he had been consigned.

Then there was Harry, one of James' kids. Well, he was _born_ one of James' kids, but as he'd been kicked out of the family, claiming a relation to a noble family was against the law, and Harry could be punished because of that. He seemed happy being a 'Ritter' though, so that was... okay, he supposed.

Sirius brushed those thoughts aside for the moment. He'd been called into the Ministry of Magic by Amelia Bones, apparently to assist in a case she had open, and she thought he might know something about it. Sirius couldn't see what he might know, he'd been in Azkaban for ages after all, and anything he might know would be out of date. Anything from before his imprisonment would also have been handled back then, or at least it should have been.

Flirting lightly with the pretty witch outside of Amelia's office door – earning him nothing more than a raised eyebrow in return – Sirius prepared himself to answer a few questions. Maybe she was going to ask him about James, or maybe Harry, those were the only potentially relevant topics he could think of.

Going inside, he paused at what he saw. Amelia herself was there, sat behind her desk, but she wasn't alone. Leaning against the back wall was an Unspeakable, which was a bit of a surprise as the Department of Mysteries didn't often work with other departments, but that wasn't the biggest surprise, perhaps the case, whatever it was, required some specialised assistance.

The most unexpected person present, that was perched on the corner of Amelia's desk and appeared to be chatting easily with the Unspeakable, was Harry. The boy looked to be in fairly good health, though there were dark circles underneath his eyes, suggesting he might not be getting as much sleep as he should be.

"Ah, Sirius, you're here, and actually on time too." Amelia said as soon as she saw who had stepped through the door.

"Did you expect me to be late, Amelia?" Sirius asked.

"I hoped you would be on time, but there was no guarantee of it." She replied bluntly. "Long term Dementor exposure has been known to make people absent-minded, and we already knew you were suffering memory problems."

"I suppose that's fair." Sirius grumbled under his breath, not exactly happy himself with what had happened, or the consequences of it either. "Care to tell me why I'm here? I can't think of much I'd be able to tell you that could help any sort of investigation, and like you said... I _am_ having some trouble with remembering things."

"We're aware of that." Amelia confirmed. "However, you are the only one who might be able to give us an answer. We wish to ask you a few things about your brother, Regulus Arcturus Black."

"Reggie?" Sirius asked in surprise. "But... he's dead, he died before I was put away, what on earth do you need to ask about him?"

The Unspeakable straightened up then, addressing Sirius. "Before we continue, I'm afraid we must ask that you agree to keeping the details you learn here confidential. What we wish to ask you involves things that _must_ be kept a secret, and if we have to break a few laws along the way, we will. I hope that conveys the weight of what this means."

Sirius' eyes went wide. An Unspeakable was talking about breaking the law, and in front of the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement no less! Amelia's eye twitched slightly, but she gave no other indication of a reaction to what the Unspeakable had said.

Sirius' eyes slid to Harry, who gave him a small smile in turn.

"If you're worrying about it, this has absolutely nothing to do with the Potters, and my involvement in this case is due to discovering... several things myself." The boy said with a shrug. "I can also tell you that we don't intend to harm or discomfort anyone either."

Sirius hesitated for only a moment. Whatever was going on here was big, if it was important enough for Amelia to break a few laws if necessary, and it was also something that required some sort of specialist help if the Unspeakable's presence was anything to go by, involving Harry in some way as well...

"Alright, I can... agree to that." Sirius consented.

"Harry." The Unspeakable glanced over to him. "Could you..."

"A binding spell?" Harry responded.

"A secrecy one, yes, we don't need this getting any further than it already is." The Unspeakable nodded.

"You know such things can be broken by someone powerful or skilled enough, right?" Harry still hesitated.

"It's better than nothing at least." The Unspeakable told him

Harry didn't verbally reply to that, instead pulling out his Tome of Shadows. Sirius didn't see the contents of the book as Harry flicked through it, but he did feel the boy's magic wash over him after he'd found what he was looking for and cast a spell over him.

Everything about the three of them seemed to sharpen as Harry cast his spell, and Sirius realised that this was when things were going to get serious.

"Tell me, Sirius, do you know what a horcrux is?" Amelia asked.

"No, it doesn't ring a bell at all." Sirius replied honestly.

Harry pulled something from behind his back, which turned out to be a locket.

"Do you recognise this, or have you seen something similar before?" He asked.

Sirius looked it over once more and shook his head. "I've never seen anything like that before in my life." He told them. "What does this have to do with Reggie?"

The three of them glanced at each other, before Harry chose to speak. "We have reason to believe that, before he died, Regulus turned against Voldemort. He attempted to collect certain objects, horcruxes, that prevented Voldemort from dying a true death. He died collecting the real version of this, but it wasn't with his corpse. We're trying to discover whether he actually did destroy it, if not then where it is, and whether he managed to learn anything about the others like it."

Sirius blinked. Yeah, this really _was_ serious after all. How much worse could it get than an immortal Voldemort? Refocusing on the locket held in Harry's hand, he tried as hard as he could to remember something about it, but he couldn't think of anything. It wasn't like he'd been particularly close to his brother, especially after he'd ran away from hom- Ah!

"There might be something in the old Black home." Sirius suggested. "I ran away before I even finished school, but Reggie still lived there up to the point he died. I haven't been back there in... ages, but if he left some sort of clues behind, that's where they'd be."

"Would you mind opening up your home for us to search through?" The Unspeakable asked.

"Sure, I couldn't care less about that place, burn it to the ground if you want." Sirius wrinkled his nose. "Just be careful, that old house is full of some pretty dark and dangerous stuff, and I'm pretty sure there's a ton of illegal crap piled up in there as well."

"Does that mean I can raid the library?" Harry piped up, a pair of puppy-dog eyes making an appearance on his face, though judging by the twitching of his lips, he was doing this in jest.

"Don't care." Sirius told him. "I'd be happy to never see that place ever again, I've got nothing but bad memories of living there. Just be careful of the books in there, many of them will be cursed, and they'll be full of dark magic too."

Harry sat back, his expression closing off after a brief flash of surprise crossed his face.

Something then occurred to Sirius. "Wait, shouldn't you be in school right now?"

"Who says he isn't?" Unspeakable Hound asked, his tone making it clear he was amused by something. Judging from Amelia's huffed laugh and eye roll, it was some sort of inside joke or something. "So, when can we search through your old home?"

"Any time really, even right now if you wanted." Sirius answered. "I'm not hanging around once I've opened the place up though, just so you know."

"That's fine, searching the place shouldn't take too long." The Unspeakable waved him off, but Sirius wasn't so sure of that. Grimmauld Place was a big house, and there was plenty of room there. It would take a _long_ time to search through, especially as they'd have to identify and sort everything in there.

Then again, maybe the Unspeakables had some sort of super secret spell that'd do it all in seconds or something.

"Alright then, might as well go now." Sirius shrugged.

xxxxx

It was fairly simple for Sirius to let them in the house. Being born a Black, and not being thrown out of the family – despite his mother's screeched insistence, his father had never actually done so for some reason – he pretty much walked up to the front door, had the wards recognise him for who he was, and then strolled in the front door.

He'd then keyed Harry and Hound in, Amelia having to remain behind as she had plenty of paperwork to be getting on with, though they'd keep her in the loop about anything they found. Sirius had then instructed Kreacher – a mad house elf – not to stop them doing what they needed to do, and then left.

Even being in the house for the few minutes that had required had soured his mood quite a bit.

Hound looked to Harry. "Well, shall we get started then?"

Harry made a vague sound of agreement, looking around at the filthy place. Looking through one door, he saw the kitchen, with an old and knackered table within. Just how this place had fallen into this state so quickly was a mystery to Harry, but he honestly didn't care enough to figure it out.

He tapped the table with his wand, causing it to fall into a large pile of wood chunks, none of them larger than his fist.

"A cutting curse, huh?" Hound mused at the sight. "No range to it, only works with touch?"

"Yeah." Harry confirmed. "Doesn't work too well against anything magical, so it's usually pretty useless for combat. It's actually a cooking spell, meant for vegetables and the like. Still, it works for things like this." He then waved his wand over the many pieces, transfiguring them into little people, each one no more than eight inches tall.

One more spell had them rushing out of the door and into the rest of the house.

"They'll organise everything into several piles." Harry told Hound. "One for ordinary items, one for those with light magical effects, and one for strong magical effects. They're not good enough to identify _what_ those effects are though, that's up to us to discover."

"And if they come across something that might be a horcrux?" Hound asked.

"Then they'll come straight back to us and lead us to it." Harry responded.

"Interesting." Hound mused. "We'll give them a few minutes to sort things out before we poke our nose into those piles, but while we wait, why don't we chat about a few things?"

"What did you have in mind?" Harry wondered.

"Nothing too specific, just in general." Hound replied. "I've been keeping an eye on you, yet you keep slipping under the radar. I must admit, it's rather frustrating for me. How about we talk about those letters you send to Japan? You know, once upon a time, it was fairly common for Hogwarts students to have pen pals, usually in either Durmstrang or Beauxbatons though."

"I'm... enjoying them actually." Harry mused. "It's interesting, really, hearing about people on the other side of the planet like this. They're so different, different species, different attitudes, different priorities, but also the same, the same spectrum of hobbies, interests, emotions. Astral Spirits, on the other hand, while they can act a little human, are far more... distant than they are. I could not speak to my shade for a decade, and then suddenly pick things up exactly how I left them, they're concept of time is just so different to mine."

Hound snorted. "Of course you don't see time the same way. You're only thirteen, and those spirits of yours are how old? Centuries? Millennia? The older you get, the less time seems to matter. I've noticed that myself when dealing with some of the more long-lived races."

"What long-lived races have you had contact with?" Harry asked curiously.

"Oh, a few." Hound waved one hand idly. "Veela can live for centuries, goblins too. Dwarves can live a long time, and there are so many more races that once walked this earth. It's a shame a lot of them have died out, though did you know that we've found evidence that elves, like in muggle tales, once existed?"

"You mean 'high elves', 'wood elves', and whatever else you want to call them?" Harry queried. "Strange, in everything I've ever read, the only elves mentioned are 'house elves', and I can't seem to find much on their origins as a species either."

"Even I don't know what House Elves once were, even my department has only found fragments of text referring to a 'calamity' and 'binding the servant race'. It's a popular theory that house elves were once like brownies, from muggle fairy-tales, but something happened and they needed help. It's unclear whether binding themselves to humans was a price of that or if it was part of the process that saved them." Hound informed him. "Anyway, these 'other' elves, it is said, 'fled this world in the face of a terrible evil', though no records currently exist about where they went."

Harry regarded Hound curiously. "Was that an indirect request for me to see if any Astral Spirits know what happened to them, or were around at that time?"

"Not really." Hound shrugged. "While it would be interesting to find out about them, it's not really relevant to modern magicals, and it's not like we could even use whatever magic they used either, not without grafting another magical system into our own bodies."

"Graft?" Harry couldn't help but ask. "Is it really possible to do something like that with an entire magical network?"

"It's possible, not that anyone outside my department would really know that." Hound admitted. "However, you've got to prepare the body as well. If you grafted a magical system into a muggle, you'd have to go through several rituals to prepare their bodies for it, otherwise the result would be... less than pleasant, to say the least."

"I'm curious, could I get a look at that research?" Harry wondered.

"I'm willing to trade information." Hound replied. "If you can find a few things we don't have much on, I can make a few copies of some of the more obscure files we have. There's even a number of old projects that were either dropped or simply never finished, you can look through them too if you want."

The way Harry's eyes glittered then let Hound know he had the boy hooked. His department would gain some new info without having to put in any effort, and all he had to do was share some of the non-confidential files that no one really bothered with any longer.

He was a little disappointed that his department in recent decades had switched focus to simply spell creation and artefact deconstruction. In Hound's opinion, those were things better left to Arithmancers and Tomb Robbers, not Unspeakables who, he believed, should push _every_ boundary of magic that existed.

Harry looked like he was about to say something, possibly about some of the things he may know that he'd be willing to trade, but their conversation was interrupted by one of the little wooden people tugging on his trousers. Hound had to laugh at the sight, despite the implications, it really was quite bizarre.

The little wooden figure led them up the stairs and into one of the rooms.

It pointed at a partially emptied cabinet, or rather it pointed at something inside the cupboard, a locket. Harry's face turned grim at that, as the two of them could clearly see that the locket was undamaged, meaning Regulus hadn't been able to destroy it before being dragged to a watery death by inferi.

"How the hell did this thing even get here?" Hound wondered. "Regulus died in that cave, and there were wards up to stop portkeys."

"I have no idea." Harry shook his head. "Let's just tear the memories out of this thing and take it out of here, unless you want to have a look at all of the artefacts piled up around this place?"

"I might have a peek about." Hound mused. "I honestly don't have much work to do, and while artefacts aren't my speciality, I do find them interesting."

"And I'll raid the library." Harry grinned. "Would you mind starting there and telling me what's cursed with what and how to get rid of it?"

"Sure." Hound agreed.

xxxxx

Once they were in the library - which probably only contained around five thousand or so books, a lot for a home, but nothing compared to a school or public library – Harry created a dozen magic clones. If he only kept them around a for a short while, he could manage having more of them out without suffering from migraines and memory problems.

Hound wandered around for a little while, tagging the books with curses on them. Harry made a mental note to only let his copies touch them until the curses were removed, it wasn't like the curses could transfer through his clones to him, they'd tested that out just in case.

Harry himself took one of the books free of curses and sat down. He rapidly flicked through it, his Occlumency being optimised for the rapid processing of information, especially in large volumes, before copying the memories and storing them in his Tome of Shadows. Going like that, he could get through a book roughly every ten to fifteen minutes, and with his clones matching him, that added up to between forty-eight and seventy-two books an hour.

It was monotonous, and frankly quite boring, but it got things done. If he found anything particularly interesting, he would read it properly later. His clones were also taking care of the cursed books first, starting with the worst of them, so there was less risk when he'd end up transporting them with him.

While Harry settled in to read – and Hound wished he had a camera at hand to take a picture of thirteen copies of Harry all quietly reading together – the Unspeakable decided to wander the rest of the house and check out the enchanted and cursed artefacts lying around.

There was some fairly simply stuff, such as self-repairing crockery, but then there was also things that made no sense to Hound. _Why_ would a family, no matter how light or dark, leave a snuffbox full of powdered poison lying around, especially when it tried to bite anyone that came near it?

He also found a jar full of human eyes, though they had strange patterns where the iris and pupil was supposed to be, and there were multiple cursed torture devices in the basement. In fact, three of Harry's little wooden people actually sacrificed themselves to save Hound from some sort of homicidal iron maiden and guillotine combination thing.

He considered learning a golem spell or two himself at that point, an extra pair of hands was always appreciated, and a magical construct that could protect him from things like that was never a bad thing. From then on, he had half a dozen of Harry's little wooden people follow him around the house.

Thankfully, nothing else tried to kill him as enthusiastically as that torture device did.

When he did return to the library, several hours after he left, he found Harry and his clones just like he'd left them. The only difference was the stack of already read books in one corner. Most of those books had the tag Hound had used to denote curses, and there was noticeablely less cursed books still on the shelves.

Looking for the only 'Harry' without a cursed book in his hands, Hound waited for him to finish flicking through it and add the memories to his tome, before tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention. Harry, obviously having been rather out of it, jumped a little in surprise, before looking up at Hound.

His eyes then noticed the small pile of objects floating behind him. "Huh, less than I expected." Harry muttered.

Hound glanced back at the items in question. "I didn't even expect this much, but there are some strange things in there all the same. I came across a jar of strange eyes in one cupboard that I'm curious about, any ideas what that might be about?"

Harry went to shake his head, but before he could speak, one of the clones looked up and interrupted them.

"I believe I came across a tome regarding permanently imbuing specific magical effects into ocular organs." It said. "However, the survival rate was roughly one in ten. To counter this, eyes were preserved and transplanted from one person to another."

"Curious." Hound murmured. "Compile everything you can find on those eyes, as well as your own theories on why the survival rate was one in ten, and I'll trade you the files on grafting foreign magical systems and one other subject of your choice."

"Agreed." Harry immediately accepted the offer. "I choose sapient magical species which no longer exist, including the elves you mentioned earlier."

"Done." Hound offered his hand, which Harry shook.

Hound chuckled. "I think that this is the start of a wonderful arrangement."

"Perhaps it is." Harry agreed.

xxxxx

Days and weeks began to blend together for Rose Potter. It wasn't that everything she was learning was especially dull or anything, it just seemed to be the same thing over and over again. The class could only go as fast as the slowest member after all, and they'd spend a week of lessons on one spell or set of magical theories.

Asking Harry, she'd found that the first 'real' bit of magic they'd cast in charms had been on Halloween. Everything before that had been theory and basic magic exercises, spells like 'lumos', and similar basic stuff. She'd done as Harry apparently did, and asked for additional stuff to work through when she was finished with class work, but she found that so _boring_.

Rose really wasn't the sort of girl that could simply read a book for fun. Oh, she did read fiction occasionally, but that was once in a while, and not a particularly regular hobby. Instead, while she was at Hogwarts, she bounced between a few of their clubs; gobstones, chess, board games, even Professor Flitwick's puzzle challenges.

Once she got bored of all them, however, she started to bug Harry for something to do. He accepted it with good grace, and even dug a few things out for her to mess about with, though she wasn't allowed to touch everything. There was something that looked to be a large, broad surfboard without the fins which Harry didn't let her play with for example, along with a few other things she couldn't identify.

Hogwarts was turning out to be not too bad in her opinion. She didn't really have many friends, she found most of them irritating or too boring, but there were some fun people there. Luna Lovegood, a girl in the year above her, was a bit of an oddball. She wasn't the same sort of 'mad' that Rose herself was, but she okay in relatively small doses. She was also something of a friend to Harry, or at least the two knew each other and were somewhat friendly.

Fred and George Weasley were a lot of fun too, and they seemed quite happy to include her in their schemes. Their friend Lee Jordan was also a pretty cool guy, though he only pitched in ideas occasionally and wasn't as involved with the pranks themselves. He more than made up for it with his avid love of Quidditch, and journalism as well it turned out.

As it so happened, Rose was currently trying to track Harry down. She knew he _used_ to stay in Ravenclaw tower, but ever since her father had been an idiot and broken in there, no one knew where he and his familiars now stayed. They turned up for breakfast, did what they did during the day, and disappeared in the evening.

Rose turned a corner and caught sight of a bushy head of brown hair.

"Hey, Granger, have you seen Harry anywhere?" She called out to the Gryffindor girl.

"What?" Hermione turned around. "N-no, I haven't."

Rose paused to take a second look at Granger. Her hair was even messier than normal, purple shadows were visible underneath her eyes, and her uniform, while clean, was a bit ruffled looking. All in all, it was clear that she wasn't in top form, though she seemed more muscled than she used to be. Of course, the heavy bag of books she lugged around might be responsible for that.

"Have you been having sex?" Rose asks bluntly.

"What?!" Hermione squeaks. "What would make you think that?"

"Well, you look a bit dishevelled and out of it, and you're always rushing about, like you're disappearing off somewhere. You're really evasive if anyone asks about where you go, and you look a bit tired too." Rose told her. "So, _have_ you been getting it on with someone?"

"No, I haven't!" Hermione's cheeks flame red. "How could you think that, I'm only fourteen!"

Rose shrugs. "Harry's only thirteen, and It's pretty obvious that Isis at least is trying to get into his pants. Besides, witches and wizards mature faster than muggles do, so there's things like hormones and stuff, isn't there? I know my mum said something about being too young to be a grandmother to Brian a while back, but I wasn't paying her too much attention at the time."

Hermione blinked, then again, and then a third time. She then palmed her face, grumbling something under her breath. She peeked out between her fingers at Rose, and a twitch started to develop under her right eye. She sighed, composed herself, and spoke with the voice of someone who was attempting to keep themselves calm and in control.

"I do not know where Harry is, nor do I know what he, or anyone he may or may not be involved with, might be doing, nor do I know what they wish to do together. However, I can probably help you find him, if that's what you want. I know a few places he likes to go to get away from other people from time to time." Hermione offered.

"Thanks!" Rose chirped.

"Just, one thing..." Hermione says. "_Please_ don't imply that I'm sleeping around, ever again. Please."

"Okay." Rose shrugs, before following after Hermione as she leads her to one of the places Harry goes to relax.

xxxxx

The first place that Hermione looked for Harry was down by the lake and forest, out on the grounds and just out of sight of the castle. The second place she tried was the room where that strange 'homework' club was, and while there were a few people in there, none of them had seen Harry.

Hermione then went around a few of the abandoned classrooms that she knew Harry sometimes used, and it was in the fourth one she looked in that she got quite the shock. When she opened the door, she yelped and froze in place, as all of the walls, the ceiling, and the floor were absolutely _crawling_ with various types of insects.

They ranged from the simply flies, house, green, and other, to dragonflies, to butterflies, and wasps, bees, and hornets, to more obscure insects, including scarabs and other foreign bugs. Amongst them, there were spiders, tarantulas, scorpions, small birds, and even a cat.

In the middle of the room, with several vials of some sort in his hand, stood Harry.

Hearing the door open, Harry looks over his shoulder to see who had come in, or at least who was now stood in the doorway with an expression of shock on her face. Seeing Hermione, he recalled his collection of zombies, black clouds flowing into the internally expanded pockets on the inside of his sleeves. Space seemed to warp around his wrists, allowing things like the cat to jump into an opening that really should have been far too small for it to fit.

Slipping the vials of poison – primarily paralytics - he'd been examining into a pocket, he raised one eyebrow at Hermione.

"Yes? Was there something you wanted?" He asked.

"Wha- Wha- What was that?" Hermione asked, looking around the room for any remainder of the mass of creepy crawlies and other assorted animals, before looking at Harry's sleeves, which didn't even show the slightest bulge. "Never mind, I don't think I even want to know. Here's your sister, she was looking for you."

Hermione pushed Rose into the room, before turning around and leaving. Harry noted that she looked rather stressed, and wondered if it had anything to do with her rather packed schedule, as well as the artefact Loki had found her using. He couldn't name it, but from observing Hermione, he'd found that it was something that allowed one to travel through time in hour long increments.

Harry frowned at that. Why did a schoolgirl, one who was only just fourteen, have something like that? Given that he'd found no reference to such an object in any of the books he'd read, he could only conclude that it was a relatively new creation. Still, even searching for some sort of mention of 'time travel' in more modern books had turned up nothing, and that worried Harry a little. Maybe he should ask Hound if the Department of Mysteries knew about such things.

"Harry!" Rose chirped, almost bouncing into the room. "Have you got anything new for me to play with? I'm feeling bored again."

Harry sighed, rolling his eyes as he did so. "I don't have anything in my pocket, but... I have a few things that might interest you. Do you have much experience with muggle games? I did buy several last time I was out and about, I'm sure you could find a few people to play with."

"That sounds fun, will you play it with me?" Rose asked.

Harry thought about it for a moment. Sure, he had a lot of things he was doing right now, but things were going relatively well, weren't they? Well, reading and memorising things was going well, his Pleiades golems were now finished as well, and a number of his projects could be put on hold.

He blew a lock of hair out of his face. "Yeah, I'll play. Tell you what, I'll even see if Isis, Loki, and Bast are interested. That sound good to you?"

"Awesome!" Rose cheered.

"Okay then. We'll use the room three doors down from the main staircase on the fourth floor, you know the one? The chess club sometimes uses it, but I think it'll be fairly empty right now. Let me just go and see if my familiars are interested and fetch the games, hm?" Harry asked.

"See you there then." Rose agreed, before charging at full speed out of the room.

"So energetic." Harry murmured to himself, before pulling out the vials of poison he was looking at earlier, frowning. "I'd better put these away somewhere safe as well, I'll see whether I can use them with my zombie bugs later."

With that, Harry cast a Dimensional Transfer spell to return him to his home in Japan, idly telepathically asking his familiars if they felt up to playing a board game with him and Rose.

Suffice to say, they agreed.


	21. Inside Lily's Head

AN: Sorry for the delay, but the next chapter's here now. Some people were asking me to tone down on all of the 'astral' stuff, and even I have to agree, it was getting a bit out of hand. It's not going to disappear, and there'll be some underworld stuff as well coming up relatively soon, but I'll focus more on other things, and have that as an aside thing, okay? Also, a lot of people have asked about how Lily is taking everything, and that played a part in the end bit of this chapter, hope you guys like my interpretation of things here.

Beta'd by: The trolling SnarkLord

Chapter 21 – Inside Lily's Head

Harry sighed. "You have really ridiculous luck." He said, as he saw Rose land on Free Parking, _again,_ and collect all of the money that had been collected there. "I'm really starting to think that playing Monopoly wasn't the best idea."

Loki laughed at Harry. "I don't think it _would_ matter what we played, the dice seem to like her a lot more than they do you."

"You're not doing any better than I am." Harry dryly retorted, looking pointedly at the small amount of money Loki currently had in front of him."

"She's mopping the floor with all of us." Isis huffed, as she and Bast had only a little more money than Harry and Loki did. She perked up then as an idea occurred to her. "Can we make this strip monopoly, putting clothes forward when we run out of money?" She asked, looking intently at Harry, lust clear in her eyes.

"No." Harry shot her down. "None of your pervy stuff in front of children." He gestured towards Rose, who gave him a flat look in return.

"You're barely older than I am." She grumbled.

"And she's been doing this ever since first year too, when _you_ were eleven years old." Loki added.

"I rest my case." Rose nodded her head, a slightly smug look crossing her face.

"Perverts." Bast commented, her eyes flickering between Rose and Isis, both of whom puffed up proudly at her insult, though as Isis had a far larger bust than Rose – who didn't have one to speak of – it had a lot more of an effect than the young girl.

Harry grumbled something inaudible under his breath, before raising his voice to normal again. "We are _not_ doing 'strip' anything. We are playing a normal game of monopoly… one that Rose is currently dominating."

Loki snorted. "Nice choice of words."

Isis huffed and leaned over to Harry in order to wrap her arms around him. "No one dominates my Harry! He dominates others, and he can dominate me _any time_." Her voice became low and sultry by the end, her hands starting to slip into less appropriate places.

She yelped as Harry reached out and touched her, a spark of electricity jumping from his hand to hers. Letting go of him, she pouted and gave him her best puppy dog eyes… which didn't move him in the slightest.

"Oh, come on, Harry, we're all alone here." She pleaded. "Let me get my snuggles, please."

"We're not alone, there's Loki, Bast, and Rose here too." He pointed out. Of course, Reinforce was currently inside him as well, and the Unison Device really didn't know how to feel about the unicorn's advances on Harry, and her uncertainty was even worse when she was inside of him when Isis was doing her flirting.

"I'm not going to stop just because my fellow familiars are here. Heck, they're welcome to join in if they want, maybe me and Bast double-teaming you would work, the stacked, mature woman, and the flat-chested loli." Harry was worried, Isis looked like she was seriously considering that. "Of course, I don't care who's around, I'd try and seduce you in front of the Queen of England if she was here."

Harry sighed. "The problem is that I actually believe you would do just that."

"There's no 'believe' about it, she _would_ do so." Loki chuckled. "In fact, she'd do it _because_ she's in front of someone important. You are well aware of how she tries to fluster you all the time, so picture how hard it would be to remain polite and calm in front of royalty while Isis is doing her best to try and get a reaction from you."

"I'm trying not to think about it, thank you very much." Harry grumbled in reply.

"Oh, just shut up and lose already." Rose interrupted them, slightly gleeful at how she was clearly winning the game they were playing.

Harry continued to grumble under his breath, but took his turn anyway. He pouted slightly when he landed on one of Rose's more expensive properties and had to hand over a significant chunk of what little money he had left. Rose's cackling didn't make Harry feel any better about losing as badly as he was.

"Anyway, Harry, Christmas isn't far away now. Do you have anything planned for the holidays?" Rose asked.

"Nothing specific." Harry replied, thinking of his plans, as few as they were. He would be testing his Pleiades golems using the standardised ranking 'exams' that the TSAB had, and he'd considered perhaps meeting up with some of his correspondents from Mahoutokoro that he'd been exchanging letters with… Oh, he'd also planned to take a closer look at those weird magical eyes that he'd taken from Grimmauld Place, but that was the extent of his 'plans'.

"There's a few things I plan on doing, but my schedule isn't packed, nor is anything set in stone." Harry added. "What about you, do you have anything planned?"

"I'm not sure." Rose shrugged. "I know dad's still hung up on talking with loads of 'important people', but no one's really said anything about anything else. If we're staying at Hogwarts over the break, I think I'd like to explore it, see what I can find. I mean, the castle is massive, it's magically expanded, and even without the towers there's seven floors to wander. With all of that, there really should be somewhere interesting, yeah?"

"Hmm, well I know a fair few interesting places around the school." Harry told her. "I could show you the Chamber of Secrets, the Room of Requirement, and a few other rooms that have a lot of focused magic there. In the Astronomy Tower, for example, there's a room that can 'record' a few days worth of night sky. It's rather dusty though, I don't think it's been used in decades, if not longer."

Rose frowned. "Why would a room like that be forgotten, it sounds like it'd be amazingly useful for lessons."

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, maybe a new teacher came along that didn't like it or something. Of course, I think it's more likely because it's not perfectly accurate, recordings aren't always exact after all, and magic can and does mutate over time. Maybe when the castle was new, it was good, but over time it became less accurate and focused."

"Magic mutates?" Rose questioned, having never heard that before.

"Of course it does." Harry confirmed. "It's one of the reasons long-lasting enchantments are so difficult, you have to put a lot of work into stabilising the spells if you want it to last a long time. Of course, more complicated also means more expensive, and artefacts from more than a thousand years ago that still work properly would be worth a moderate fortune."

"Huh." Rose made a noise of curiosity. "So how difficult is it to make things last a long time?" She wondered.

Harry thought about it for a moment, before answering.

"Well, that depends on the enchanter really. Though, I would expect an OWL student to be able to make something last several years if they tried, maybe a decade or two, and a NEWT students _should_ be able to make something stick for half a century, depending on how complex it was." Harry suggested. "Anything more than that gets pretty complicated, and the magic in it becomes almost 'alive' in a sense."

Rose looked at Harry, and then towards the closest wall, remembering that she was in a castle that was over a thousand years old, that had randomly moving staircases, doorways, and passageways that warped all as part of the 'basic' stuff, that's without even thinking about all of the portraits, statues, armour, and special rooms with extra features.

"That's… a little creepy actually." She admitted.

"I thought so as well when I first read about it." Harry agreed. "Then I started comparing them to Tsukumogami, and I got rather curious about the whole process."

"What's a Tsukumogami?" Rose asked. "Is that one of those Japanese 'Yoko' things?"

"'Youkai'." Harry corrected. "Yes, they are. They're a type of 'wild' youkai that are 'born' from regular objects that have been kept for a long time. Well-known tsukumogami include tea caddies, sandals, musical instruments, mirrors, clocks, umbrellas, and many more."

"Wild yokai?" Rose prodded, paying more attention to Harry than the unfinished game of monopoly.

"In Japan there are 'wild' yokai and 'civilised' yokai." Harry explained. "'Civilised youkai' are those that live in structured societies like humans do, and consider themselves more socially developed than 'wild' yokai. A lot of civilised youkai have a humanoid form. Wild yokai, on the other hand, live more by their instincts and natural abilities. It's almost impossible to describe a wild yokai, because it could look like pretty much anything, and be capable of pretty much anything too."

Harry shrugged, amused by how interested his sister seemed. Maybe she was like him in that she enjoyed learning new things?

"Never mind that, you can ask me more later, let's just finish this game of monopoly before I start contemplating hanging myself." Harry said. "I can't believe I'm losing this badly."

Rose gained a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "Want to make it a forfeit game?" She asked.

Harry just gave her a flat look in return. "No, now let's just finish this up."

Rose just laughed at Harry's slight pout, and Loki chuckled along with her, but she nevertheless got on with the game.

xxxxx

It was about a week later that Harry saw his blonde-haired, red-eyed friend with a frown on her brow.

"Is something the matter, Fate?" He asked.

"Harry?" Fate blinked in surprise, having been rather too focused on her thoughts to notice him. "Oh, well, it's nothing major… I was just wondering, how and what am I supposed to get people for Christmas this year? I'm a bit unsure about where I might get something appropriate."

"Well, as third years, we _can_ go down to the village on the weekends set aside for it." A slight grin began to stretch Harry's lips and a twinkle appeared in his eyes. "However, if you want to sneak out, I know a few ways we can do that."

Fate opened her mouth, almost instantly going to suggest they wait until they were actually _supposed_ to be out of the castle, but then she closed them again and thought about it. Without as many students around, it would be a lot easier to get around the village without pushing through groups of people, and it wasn't like she wasn't up to date on all of her work. On top of that, it wasn't exactly dangerous, both her and Harry were strong mages, even if Harry seemed rather focused on golems and necromancy recently.

"I'm free right now." Fate started hesitantly, her eyes flickering up to meet Harry's.

"As am I." Harry said, though even if he wasn't, he could just send a clone in his place.

"Then… would you like to join me while I do some Christmas shopping, Harry?" Fate asked.

"I'd be glad to." Harry smiled warmly at her."I still need to do some shopping as well, I can't think what I should get for Bast or Isis. Maybe you could help me find something?"

"I'd be happy to." Fate smiled back at Harry.

"Then let's go." Harry put one arm around Fate's shoulders as he fell into step beside her. "Let's just get out of sight of the portraits and a simple Dimensional Transfer will have us in Hogsmeade in just a moment."

Fate nodded her head in agreement, quite content to spend time with her friend.

xxxxx

Fate and Harry weren't the only ones who needed to do some Christmas shopping, and one of those who still needed to purchase a few items was one Lily Potter. Just as Harry and Fate were looking for an out of the way corner to teleport to Hogsmeade – their actions doing nothing to quell the rumours about the two – a certain red-haired woman was browsing through Hogsmeade's branch of Gambol and Japes.

While it thankfully was nowhere near as bad James' penchant for mischief that the older Potter had during school, and still possessed, Brian still enjoyed little tricks and jokes. Maybe it was a 'boy' thing, just like how both Brian and James enjoyed sports, specifically Quidditch, and rolling around in the mud.

Rose was a lot harder to buy for though, even Lily had to admit that her daughter was, to say the least, somewhat strange. She also felt a little odd in that she probably had a better relationship with Brian than Rose, not that her relationship with her younger child was at all bad or anything. It was just so difficult to understand what she was thinking at times, and far easier to just let her have her freedom to do her own thing really.

As she was leaving a shop, a flash of light from a nearby alley caught her attention. Just as she was about to go and see what it was, two figures emerged onto the main street of the small village. Lily recognised them instantly, both of them had quite distinctive features after all.

The blonde girl had hair so bright that it looked like it had been washed in liquid sunlight, and red eyes that held such compassion and warmth that it was no surprise that about three quarters of the boys at Hogwarts all had a crush on her. Of course, none of them had managed to get close to her yet, and it was debatable if she had even noticed the attempts.

Her companion was also very distinctive. After all, his hair wasn't a single colour, what with the broad streak of silver it had, and his heterochromia didn't make him fade into the background either. The shadows under his eyes suggested he wasn't getting much sleep though, and was it just her imagination, or was he getting even paler than he was before, like the colour was being leached out of his skin?

Neither seemed to have noticed Lily yet… and the red-haired woman had to admit to herself that she was, at the least, rather curious about them. Of course, if she wanted to follow the two of them discreetly, she'd have to do something about her appearance, she _did_ stand out a bit herself.

With that thought in mind, she drew her wand and quickly glamoured herself to give the appearance of someone two inches shorter with chocolate coloured eyes and dark brown hair. She jumped a little in surprise when, as she hid her appearance, Harry's eyes seemed to flicker around before jumping onto herself.

After a moment, he moved on, and Lily released a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. For a moment there she'd thought that he'd somehow sensed her spell, but that was unlikely. While there were people who were sensitive to magic, it was far from an accurate thing, and usually reserved to those who were either older and understood their magic better, or those with a massive capacity for mana, which made them more sensitive to shifts in the ambient magic.

"Any idea where we should go first?" The blonde one asked her companion.

Harry shrugged. "Not really, I don't know much about the village itself, just the history stuff I've read in books. I'm sure if we wander around we'll find something appropriate."

"Shall we start over there then?" Fate asked, pointing to the nearest shop, little trinkets glimmering in the window.

Harry simply nodded in agreement and started to walk over towards the shop, Lily covertly following after them. Several of the regular residents of Hogsmeade who had noticed the three had to force themselves to not laugh out loud at the sight, it was likely some sort of comedy routine in a play, especially with Lily's rather abysmal stealth skills.

xxxxx

Inside the shop, Fate and Harry were looking at some of the beautiful and intricate items for sale, some of them enchanted for a specific purpose or other. Fate had found a little puppy ornament that she found adorable, and was also supposed to be able to calm down wild animals as well.

"Nanoha always struck me as more of a practical girl than one who liked 'cute' things." Harry commented, checking over some of the enchanted items, looking for something that Nanoha would think was 'useful'. "Maybe we should look at sneakoscopes and things like that, or one of those lie detector orbs."

"Are they any good?" Fate asked curiously.

"They're alright. Obviously, they aren't perfect, but things like that, and magical mood rings, can give you a general idea about whether someone is lying to you, and if so how much they want to keep something secret. It won't tell you which bit of what they're saying is a lie, so deflections and insinuations don't show up on them." Harry replied.

"That sounds better than something like those necklaces that have shield charms on them. I mean, it's not going to be anywhere near as good as Raising Heart, is it?" Fate mused.

Harry snorted. "No, but then again, both types of shield only work against _directed_ magical attacks, they won't do anything against enchantments or indirect spells, like sticking charms, or that gravity spell I found the other day."

"Hmm, you're right." Fate agreed. "Still, Nanoha thinks she's found a way to get around spells like that, so be prepared to lose next time we all spar together."

"How would she do that, some sort of automated finite spell?" Harry wondered. "Then again, knowing Nanoha, she'll just use raw mana to overpower my spell and shred it to pieces." He chuckled. "Well, anyway, I guess I'll find out sooner or later."

"I'm not going to say." Fate shook her head. "We all have our own little secrets. I'm sure that _you_ have things you haven't used against us yet, especially given what you specialise in."

Harry laughed at her innocent reference to his necromancy.

"Of course I do." He admitted. "I also intend to go a step further soon. I remember you asking me about joining me for that, so you can come along with me if you want to, and maybe pick something up yourself."

Fate gave him a confused look for a moment, mentally going over what he might mean by that. It was several seconds later that her eyes went wide as she remembered asking that, when Harry went to the Underworld, to take her with him so she could watch his back.

That gave her pause to think about what he was asking. Harry already had contracts with several Astral spirits, and it sounded like he intended to forge some demon contracts as well. On top of that, he was asking whether she'd be interested in contracting with some demons as well.

"I'll think about it." She eventually replied. "I'd like to know more before I commit to anything, but… I'm keeping an open mind at least."

"Sure thing." Harry agreed with a slight smile. "Now, let's see if we can't find something for our friends here, do you think Zafira would like that bunny-shaped alarm clock over there, apparently it jumps all over you to wake you up in the morning?"

Fate sighed. "What is with you and tormenting poor Zafira with rabbit-themed pranks?"

"I'm not sure why it started, but it's fun." Harry shrugged. "I feel like it's, I don't know, something that's important to me for some reason. Besides, Zafira's reactions are always amusing."

Fate was almost tempted to roll her eyes, but refrained from doing so. She knew that, regardless of what she said, Harry would likely keep doing these sorts of things to Zafira, and the Guardian Beast was a lot more lively than he used to be as well. He seemed to really enjoy having someone treat him as a person, or at least a prank target, instead of the family pet, like almost everyone else did.

Harry's eyes glittered with amusement at her slightly exasperated reaction. "Come on, Fate, let's see what some of the other shops have. We can always come back later." He said.

"Sure." Fate agreed.

xxxxx

Lily stayed as far away from the two as she could while still keeping them in sight. A super-sensory charm allowed her to hear what they were saying, and… she honestly didn't know what to make of the two of them at all.

It was blatantly obvious to her that these two were familiar with each other, and had known each other for some time at that. However, she also knew that the blonde girl, and the two other Japanese students, had only come to Hogwarts that September.

So, Harry had been 'aware' of the three girls _before_ they had come to the school. The question then was why they had come to Hogwarts instead of whatever school was nearest their country – Lily didn't actually know where any of the schools in the world were aside from Hogwarts and Beauxbatons – and why they'd only come _now_.

The alternative was that James' paranoia was rubbing off on Lily, and she was seeing things that weren't actually there. Harry was pretty friendly with a number of students, she'd seen that herself, so maybe these two had simply… clicked together.

Lily had to pause as she saw Fate's and Harry's hands brush against each other. The significance of that, as little as it was, wasn't lost on Lily, and seeing her first-born like this _hurt_ her. She should have been there when he said his first word, when he took his first steps, when he first went to school… and when he brought home his first girlfriend.

She didn't even know what Harry's first word even _was!_ The flesh golems they'd left behind to take their places would have known that, but she didn't. She could just picture it in her head, that _copy_ of herself smiling brightly as _it_ picked up _her_ child, just as he spoke his first word, 'mama'.

If that had actually happened, and she found out about it, then Lily didn't know what she'd do. The _thing_ her baby spoke to, even if he wasn't even properly alive at the time, just a corpse enchanted to move and act real, and not decay, was not his own mother, but a thing created so she could save her own skin.

Lily stopped looking at Harry for a moment, and switched focus to his blonde… friend. 'Fate' she was called, if Lily had heard right. The first thing about her that stood out to Lily was her long blonde hair, as even when tied up in twin tails, it still reached her thighs.

Her burgundy eyes were also rather striking. In fact, Fate was incredibly beautiful, Lily even felt a small spark of jealousy because of it. She knew that when she'd been in school she had been incredibly beautiful, it was the main reason James had been so obsessed with her, but she simply couldn't compare to this blonde child at all.

Was this Harry's girlfriend? The two were obviously close, very close, but Lily would have thought that Harry's unicorn familiar would have chased off any 'competition' for her master. That lewd and vulgar creature, that had somehow been created from a pure unicorn, had made her intentions towards Harry clear, and what sort of girl would stand for that sort of behaviour around their boyfriend?

Lily paused and pretended to check something out in a window display next to her when she saw Harry and Fate stop in front of another shop. They went in after a moment, though Lily didn't immediately follow them in, even she could tell that if she did that all the time it would be suspicious.

She sighed, feeling like Atlas with the weight of the sky on her shoulders. Why did everything have to happen to _her_? It just wasn't fair. When she was a kid, she'd been such good friends with Petunia, her sister, but then when she'd received her Hogwarts letter, everything had turned sour.

It had really hurt Lily for Petunia to call her a freak, and she'd turned to her other friend, one that was actually going to school with her! Severus had been amazing, he'd known so much, and he'd been willing to teach her that stuff too! Oh, Lily had known Severus had a crush on her, even back then, but she hadn't done anything about it. She hadn't liked him that way, and tried to keep him a 'friend', friend-zoned she believed they called it these days.

Of course, when she'd gotten to Hogwarts, everything wasn't as 'pretty magical princess' as she'd thought it was going to be. Magic was hard work, you had to know so much stuff, at least subconsciously, to get spells to work how you wanted them to. On top of that, her friend had been sorted into Slytherin and herself into Gryffindor, two houses that were supposed to hate each other as a matter of course.

She'd taken so much flack for trying to maintain that friendship, and it had worn on her. _Then_ that arse Potter had pretty much marked as 'his', _his_ girl, _his _conquest, _his_ property almost. Her dorm-mates were jealous of her looks and popularity, but Lily never managed to get a boyfriend as no one was willing to face off against James Potter and his minions.

No, Lily's school days hadn't been pleasant, and that was before you took into account there was some sort of terrorist shadow war going on in the background too, and _every_ kid in school had an opinion on that, if they didn't outright declare their allegiance at the top of their voices.

She'd been quite harsh when she snapped at Severus in fifth year after he called her mudblood, she could admit that herself, but it had just been _too_ much. Of course, when she'd next seen James Potter, and the insufferably smug look on his face, she'd nearly hexed the crap out of him on sheer principle… but she didn't.

She couldn't know for certain if his reaction had been because her fractured friendship with Severus was finally over or something else, and there was really no way she _could_ do something like that to James Potter and get away without punishment. He was popular, he was 'smart', he was a pureblood meaning he had connections, and he had his bloody 'marauders' backing him every step of the way.

She should have known years before then that she would eventually end up as his girlfriend, it was pretty much inevitable. He was too persistent, too willing to chase off anyone she showed the slightest interest in. Oh, he wasn't _all_ bad, she knew that he had become an animagus for his werewolf friend, even if neither James or Remus knew that she knew.

Still, it was seeing that look on his face, and after forcing herself not to curse him, that she resigned herself to becoming _his_ girl. She wasn't going to just let it happen, but there wasn't much she could do to prevent it from happening, so she might as well _try_ and see the positives in her future boyfriend.

Things had been easier for her after she finally said yes to James. Most of her detractors backed off when she was 'officially' claimed by James, though not all of them of course. James' own parents, or at least his mother, didn't seem to like her, something about being suspicious that Lily was trying to marry rich.

Lily supposed she couldn't blame the woman, she was from a rich family with an illustrious history, so of course she should be suspicious of some common girl with nothing to her name but a certain degree of skill, especially in a world where things such as love potions existed.

Shortly after that, she'd graduated from Hogwarts.

Of course, she was also immediately on the front lines of the 'war' they were fighting. Being both a muggleborn, a_ skilled_ muggleborn at that, and a known 'associate' of James Potter, a very vocal detractor of the Death Eaters and their Lord Voldemort, she'd been in the thick of it.

For goodness sake, she'd come face to face with Voldemort himself on more than one occasion! As a _teenager!_ Thankfully that stopped when James actually got her pregnant. She didn't really know how to feel about that at the time. There was still that resigned resentment she had for James Potter, not to mention just how bloody young she was, getting a baby at nineteen years old. Still, that baby was hers, her own flesh and blood that she carried inside herself for nine months.

Then came the day of birth itself.

'Complications' in birth they called it. She called it just more of her shitty luck. One of her babies was fine, completely healthy, the other had been accidentally strangled to death by the other's umbilical cord. She'd been so messed up by that it wasn't even funny.

Of course, just as she was suffering a breakdown, Albus bloody fucking Dumbledore just had to tell them about a 'prophecy' spewed by a drunken bitch that labelled her newborn child the possible 'saviour' of the wizarding world.

That had been it. She'd wanted out.

Thankfully, James hadn't wanted to hang around either. It turned out that fighting Death Eaters when there were lethal spells being fired at you wasn't as 'glorious' as he'd thought it would be. Well, that and losing his parents had scared the pants off of him as well.

She knew that he'd spoken with his friends about possibly fleeing the country, but Sirius was too invested in it, Remus felt he owed it to Dumbledore to do everything he could, and even Peter said he couldn't leave, saying that he had to look after his mother, and she would never leave the country of her birth.

Of course, James' desperation to get away had lead to him reading a few books that his parents probably wouldn't have approved of, books that had been put into storage, yet never actually disposed of. The result of that searching had been the flesh golems created from a bit of themselves that they'd had to cut off.

There had also been the… different version of that which required a 'complete cadaver', the one which they'd used on their dead baby. She didn't know quite why she'd gone along with that, the insane plan to turn their dead child into a magical bomb to take out Voldemort when he inevitably came after them.

Still, she'd done it, and then she'd escaped with her husband to Canada. There, she had lived a relatively normal life, but it just hadn't been the same. She didn't feel a connection to any of the people there, she still felt trapped and alone. In fact, she felt like barely a shadow of herself, barely a memory of the fiery redhead she'd once been. Now, she was just 'James Potter's wife', or 'Brian and Rose's mother', not Lily, not any longer.

The tinkle of a bell brought her out of her thoughts, and her eyes flickered over to the shop Fate and Harry had entered. It seemed like she'd been so lost in thought that she'd stayed right where she was long enough for them to finish in their and come back out again.

As they walked away from her and further into the village, she stopped suddenly, her hands clenched into fists.

For just an instant, as Harry's long hair had swished around him as he turned, she could swear she saw something different.

Instead of black and silver, his hair been coppery red.

Instead of being different colours, his eyes had both been green.

Instead of _him_, it had been… _her_.

But that was just her imagination, wasn't it?


	22. The Underworld

AN: Just a note, like the Astral Plane, the Underworld won't become a central focus for the story. It's here primarily for me to expand the world which my story is set in, no more, no less. Now, something else, my pace should pick up starting next week, as I'll have a lot more free time then. However, once this chapter is put up, I'm going to try and see if I can squeeze another chapter or two from that story. Please enjoy the story, and for those who want more, there's a forum link on my profile that will take you to where discussions go down and omakes are much appreciated.

Beta'd by: The trollingSnarkLord

Chapter 22 - The Underworld

Two sets of eyes narrowed in challenge.

Two people slid into combat ready stances.

Two weapons, pole-arms, were gripped tightly in hands.

A small noise, a signal, started things off.

Fate dashed forwards as fast as she could, easily dodging Harry's initial salvo of curses and hexes, the head of Bardiche glowing yellow as she charged it full of her magic. Another movement had her behind Harry, just as she released a crescent arc of lightning at his back.

She didn't wait for it to hit though. One lesson she'd learnt when fighting Harry was to _not_ stop until you knew he was down, and another was to strike _fast_. If she took the time to charge up a more powerful attack, Harry would also have time to erect a defence, or relocate somewhere else, wasting the mana she'd put into the attack.

She continued to rapidly dash around him, her use of sonic move leaving after images behind as she launched a barrage of magical attacks at her current sparring partner. This wouldn't put him down though, yet Fate didn't know what sort of defence he'd have called up to counter her.

Would he go for the brute force option that Nanoha favoured and use a shield spell, matching her strength with his own? Would he have used a transmutation and raised the ground and hardened it to form a barrier between them? Would he have used some other exotic technique that would allow him to do something, such as conduct her lightning-based attack into the earth?

Once the area had cleared slightly, the air having been filled with dust and dirt during Fate's offensive, Fate immediately went on guard. Harry was not even where he'd stood before, meaning he'd left a static defence behind to take the beating while he high-tailed it out of there.

This was where Harry was most dangerous, when he had the opportunity to lay traps and plan ways to attack. As good a fighter as Harry was, and he was good, he was more of a tactician than Fate was, she'd freely admit that, and he was better than both Nanoha and Hayate as well.

"Expelliarmus!" A voice called out, and Fate threw herself backwards to avoid the spell approaching her.

However, it seemed Harry had already stuck her feet to the floor when she'd been glancing around, resulting in her pulling a move that looked like something Michael Jackson would be jealous of with how far she leaned, before catapulting herself back upwards, and towards Harry.

She saw his eyes widen slightly as she took a step, showing that her feet were no longer stuck to the floor, and that surprise allowed her to get in close with her current sparring partner.

Fate absolutely dominated Harry in close-quarters. In fact, up close and personal is what Fate specialised in, and with the training she'd done ever since the Jewel Seed incident, there were very few who could compare, even with her being as young as she was.

"Boost Up: Speed." Harry's device spoke aloud, just as he became faster simply to try and match up his opponent. Even with that speed boost though, he was barely keeping Fate from winning. Dodging backwards, he stomped hard on the ground, a half dozen golems rising around the pair of them, each hefting a massive two-handed blade as long as a grown man, and as broad as one too.

One was instantly disposed of when an electrified fist ploughed through its chest, causing it to fall apart. Another one took an enhanced kick to the abdomen, while a third one was taken care of with a single-handed swing of Bardiche. Still, as fast as Fate was, they were too close for her to get rid of all of them so easily.

She flashed away from the middle of the group, a small yellow orb being left in her place.

Harry was the _only_ one to get away fast enough to avoid the blast, but he was still blinded by the flash of light it emitted.

He sighed after that. "Okay, you win this one."

Opening his eyes and blinking away the spots, Harry could only just see Fate lowering her device from his throat, a victorious smile on her face.

"You've got to tell me though, how did you escape my sticky area trap?" He asked curiously, earning a slight blush from Fate, who heard the intended praise behind his words.

"Ah, it was quite simple actually." Fate replied, removing a bracer from her arm. Harry had seen the new addition to her barrier jacket, but hadn't thought much of it, simply expecting it to be a form of light armour she could wear without inhibiting movement. It seems, though, that there was more to it than that.

"I hid my wand in here." Fate explained, revealing said magical focus. "Since it was in contact with my skin, I could cast spells with it. The other part was practising the 'Finite Incantatum' spell constantly, until I got it to the point I didn't need either the incantation or the wand movements."

"Nice." Harry commented. "An effective counter, not just to my tactics, but any non-lethal debilitating spell cast against you. I'll have to look up some spells that aren't easily so countered now, or ones that react badly to a general dismissal at least."

"I still won this time." Fate replied, a small but noticeable edge of competitiveness creeping into her eyes.

"You beat me, yes." Harry easily admitted. "However, don't expect the same tactic to work against me twice. Fool me once, and all of that."

"Still won." Fate impishly repeated, before her expression faded into a smile. "Now, we've both got breakfast to get to, and I would like to get a shower as well. Spars with you are far more physically taxing than spars with Nanoha or Hayate, even if I don't use as much of my mana as I do during spars with the others."

Harry snorted. "That's because we have very different fighting styles." He shook his head, before a frown crossed his face. "By the way… I'm thinking of heading to the Underworld tonight, if you still want to come with me. I've read everything I can about the place, what I found in the Black Library, and I've had clones hunting all through Knockturn Alley as well. I'm as prepared as I'll ever be, so if I'm going, it might as well be soon."

Fate thought about it for a moment. "I'll come with you, definitely, but I'm still not sure about contracting with demons myself, is that okay?"

"Fine by me." Harry replied. "I know that I do things and take risks that others wouldn't, I'm not going to force my choices on you."

Fate simply shook her head as the two of them went off to prepare for the day.

xxxxx

Nothing particularly special happened that day at Hogwarts. In fact, it was a completely average day, as mundane as it ever got at Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing only got a single 'patient' all day, a girl who had gotten her first period and freaked out at the sight of blood. Professor Snape only had two cauldrons catastrophically fail in his lessons, neither one of them resulting in anything more serious than coughing and spluttering as the ones leaning over the cauldrons got a faceful of some unpleasant smell or other.

After the evening meal, however, Fate headed out of the castle and onto the grounds. The castle doors wouldn't be locked for another three hours, and curfew wasn't for another hour after that, so she and Harry had plenty of time to do what they were going to do.

She briefly considered asking Hayate or Nanoha if they would like to join them as well, but decided against it. Nanoha seemed very happy with her housemates, and it was very unusual to see her without half a dozen or more Hufflepuffs surrounding her. Hayate, while not quite as much of a social butterfly as Nanoha, did seem to be really happy with all of her new friends.

It made Fate wonder what the difference was between her and them. While she was polite and friendly herself, Fate preferred the company of a smaller group of close friends rather than a larger and louder group, and could quite happily curl up with a good book to read if the mood took her.

She supposed that was one thing she and Harry had in common.

Speaking of said necromancer, she caught sight of him down by the lake, not far from the edge of the forest. With him was all three of his familiars, and Fate paused as she took in the sight of them. It was quite clear that Isis and Loki had been working hard at training, as while they were definitely not bulging with muscles, they were more toned, made clear with Isis who wore such revealing clothing. They also held themselves differently, not tense, but definitely ready to respond and alert.

"Hey, Fate, you ready?" Isis asked, grinning at the blonde girl.

"I think so." Fate replied. "I don't know exactly what I'm going to face there, but I'm confident enough in my own abilities to handle at least some of the weaker demons we're likely to face."

Harry chuckled. "We'll be avoiding the haunts of the named demons, definitely, so we shouldn't come across anything out of our league. We shouldn't encounter much more than imps, gargoyles, or nightmares, a chupacabra or two at worst."

"None of that meant anything to me, Harry." Fate shook her head.

"Imps are small, have sharp claws, but are more of a nuisance than anything else." Harry began to list off the creatures he'd mentioned. "Gargoyles are larger, tougher, but slower, and still not much of a challenge. Nightmares are physically weak, but can induce fear in those who are 'weak of heart and mind', as the book put it. Chupacabras resemble dinosaurs in body, but with more human-like heads, and mouths full of sharp teeth. They are fast and aggressive, but not beyond our ability to handle."

"Are we looking for anything in particular?" Fate asked. "I mean, none of those demons sound particularly… useful to you."

"That's because I'm not looking for them, they were just examples of demons we might come across." Harry responded. "I'm actually hoping to come across a pack or two of hell hounds. Like their mundane counterparts, they're considered to be excellent at tracking and hunting, and because they have senses ordinary dogs don't, I'm kind of hoping they might be able to help hunt down horcruxes. Even if they can't, it never hurts to have them available if I ever need them."

"I see." Fate murmured as she processed the information. "I think I'm ready to set off now."

"Right then, let's go." Harry said, before transfiguring a pebble into a dagger and slicing his own hand open.

Fate looked on in slight disbelief as Harry clenched his fist and began to mutter some form of incantation with his eyes closed. The blood that was slowly dripping from his hand began to turn black, and ripples started to become visible in the drops.

With a harsh cry, Harry opened his palm, splattering the ground with his now black blood, and the next thing Fate knew was blackness. She blinked, yet nothing changed. She couldn't feel the ground beneath her feet any longer, she couldn't feel the cool breeze on her skin, she couldn't hear anything, see anything, smell anything. She was experienceing full sensory deprivation.

She began to panic.

Thud!

Feeling the ground beneath her feet, and hearing her own rapid breathing, Fate began to calm down. As short as it had been, that had been the scariest thing that she'd ever experienced. For goodness sake, she hadn't been able to feel her own body, hadn't even been able to bend her elbow and touch her own face with her own hand. There'd just been… nothing.

Getting herself under control, Fate looked up to see what the Underworld looked like, and couldn't help but be… disapointed.

It didn't look like a Christian hell of fire and torture or anything like that. Instead, it looked rather bland. Looking down, she saw she was stood on pale grey sand, and some distance away there appeared to be piles of darker grey rocks. Further away than that, there appeared to be some hill sized grey rocks.

Looking up, she saw a dark sky, with no stars, which seemed to contain floating masses of rock, like the one she must be stood on. The smallest of the ones she could see looked to be about half the size of a football field, while some of the larger ones she could make out might be the size of a large city. She couldn't tell _exactly_ how big they were, but those were her best guesses.

"This is the Underworld?" Fate asked. "It's less impressive than I was expecting." She admitted.

"This is considered the 'outer edge' of the Underworld, I think." Harry replied. "Further in, where things are more stable, there's country sized chunks of land with plenty more on them than a couple of rocks. However, I don't think we want to risk going there right now, let's see if we can't find any demons hereabouts."

Fate kept her eyes peeled as she followed Harry and his familiars through the eerily silent and monochrome Underworld.

Of course, her traitorous mind refused to keep silent. She kept having random thoughts pop up, questions such as 'how were they breathing and could hear things when they were apparently in a vacuum – she wondered this when she noticed the complete lack of wind and air – or how did gravity work when there was no actual planet beneath her feet – and she wasn't using magic to simulate gravity either.

Also, how had Harry decided on which direction to head in?

xxxxx

Back at Hogwarts, Fate and Harry's disappearance hadn't gone unnoticed, but let's ignore the rumours beginning to spring up about those two for the moment. Instead, let's see those 'left behind', Nanoha Takamachi and Hayate Yagami.

Both of them had noticed that Harry and Fate had seemingly disappeared together, and neither really knew what the two of them were doing together. Nanoha was a little bit depressed about that. She'd seen Fate hang around the edges of the 'cliques' at Hogwarts, not really part of any of them, like Harry wasn't, and she worried a lot about her friends. She wished she could make them be more friendly with people, but she couldn't go around forcing them to play together like little children.

Could she?

Maybe she could actually. Aside from Quidditch – which Nanoha personally thought was awesome! - there had to be some sort of team sport that witches and wizards could play together. She'd tried looking a few up, but hadn't had any success so for. They seemed to limit themselves to quidditch, or quodpot in some places, and duelling for 'physical' activity, and chess, gobstones, or card games for the rest of the time.

Still, there had to be _something_. Even when the muggle world was in the era the wizarding world appeared to be stuck in, they'd had loads of different games they could play. Board games alone came in so many different varieties, and then there were things children played together, and more. All of that was done without magic, so surely _with_ magic there should be even more, right?

All she had to do was find them, and if they still didn't exist? Well, she could get creative herself if she had to!

Hayate wasn't as much of a worrier as Nanoha was. She didn't think that much of Fate and Harry disappearing like they did, as she could clearly see that neither of them were really big on the whole socialising thing. Both of them still spent time with herself and the others, and Zafira was _still_ being targeted by rabbit themed pranks.

Instead, Hayate had Signum, Vita, and Shamal on her mind. Oh, she was in contact with them through the long range communicator function of their devices, it was just a bit odd for her, as she had gotten used to having them be right there with her.

Shamal, having already gotten her general healing license, was now working towards her military one. Apparently, despite being one of the foremost healers known in history, you still needed to go through the modern applications and courses for such things.

Vita and Signum had it easier, both of them having gone straight into the TSAB without much of an issue. Hayate was happy for them, that things were going so well, but she was also… a bit displeased that all they seemed to do was fight. She knew that she would more than likely be the same once she properly joined the TSAB, but it felt like a statement, that all they knew was how to fight.

A bit critical of her really, but even so, she couldn't see any of them, her knights, her closest friends, and Harry's group, ever really favouring a particularly 'civilian' lifestyle. Nanoha was basically cut out for law enforcement, and while Fate could be described as diplomatic, she could certainly fight when it came to it, and Harry himself was a strange hybrid of researcher and mercenary if one thought about it.

Still, even if she wasn't as worried as Nanoha was, she wondered where they were and what they were doing regardless.

xxxxx

Right at that moment, Fate was having rather dark thoughts regarding the first demons she'd ever encountered.

Not ten minutes after they'd arrived in the Underworld, they'd been set upon by… things. She didn't know where they'd come from, but then again, it didn't seem like distance meant much in the Underworld. A rock that she could barely see in the distance would trip her up not a second later, while another that she could almost reach out and touch didn't seem to ever get any closer. It was maddening!

Anyway, back those 'things' that had attacked them. They had been roughly a foot and a half tall, generally humanoid, though with proportionally smaller heads, possessed wings, and came in a range of colours, from brown and grey, to black and purple. They also had rather sharp claws and shrieked like a pig having its throat slashed with a rusty and serrated knife.

These were imps, and they attacked, not individually, not even as a group, but as a cloud of annoying bugs that almost caused your ears to bleed.

They were at least easy to take care of though. Heck, a single blasting curse from Harry had a dozen of them falling out of the air, and both of them knew far stronger spells than that.

Still, the number of imps that attacked them easily numbered in the hundreds, or quite possibly the low thousands. For every cluster of imps that 'died', a half dozen more took their place, and these imps showed neither fear nor apprehension, attacking constantly and in spite of the massive losses they suffered.

As the last of them fell out of the air, Fate looked down, only to see them crumble and become like the grey sand underfoot.

"Harry." She said slowly. "This… this isn't sand, is it?" She asked.

"It is and it isn't." Harry replied. "In the Underworld, there is only energy and matter, all is one and the same. This grey 'sand' is the same as the flesh of demons, and the wood of any trees that exist here. There was a bit of a poem in of the books I found, if I remember right it went like this:

What is sand and stone, is flesh, blood, and bone.

What is water and earth, is wood, metal, and stone.

What is the essence, is the warmth, the light, and life.

What is the love, is also hate, loathing, and strife.

"What this means is that, rather than a periodic table of elements like our world has, everything here is essentially formed out of a single element, though it is very malleable. The other half of the poem, I _think,_ means that energy works differently here. All of those imps we just 'killed', simply returned to being the 'idea' of imps, and will eventually reform from the grey sand around us, or maybe several imps worth of essence will come together and form something else." Harry shrugged at that.

"That doesn't make any sense, none of this world does!" Fate groaned, feeling a headache coming.

Harry snorted. "This is a 'lower' world, things like physics have a weaker grasp here, so strength is determined by raw power and force of will. The 'higher' worlds have tighter rules, where strength is determined by one's ability to work with and around said rules. 'Logic' doesn't really work here, and it becomes a far more complex thing in the realms above ours."

"Something else you read?" Fate asked.

Harry nodded in confirmation, and said as much, though he also commented on the extreme rarity on _anything_ regarding the Celestial Realm and those above that.

Fate was about to ask more about the Celestial Realm - were there equivalents of angels and gods there? - but something else caught her attention. There was no source of light in the Underworld, yet they could still see clearly. However, one thing that was missing was shadows, and she had just noticed a rock that _had_ a shadow.

"Harry, what's that?" Fate asked quietly, indicating the shadow.

"One of two things. Either it's a Navrak, also called 'shadow demons', or it's a Hell Hound, what I came here to find." Harry told her. "Let's find out which. Stay back with the others, okay?"

Fate looked curious about that, but remained in place as Harry took several steps forward, casting a sonorous charm on his throat as he did so, and then let out an absolute monstrous roar.

"What is he doing?" Fate hissed. "He'll draw every demon from miles around with that noise!"

"No demon will come near here because of that." Loki retorted. "That… was a challenge."

Another blood-curdling howl echoed across the barren desert.

"A challenge that's just been answered." Bast added on.

"Wait, why is Harry changing his device's form?" Fate asked, as she saw his usually halberd formed device shift into liquid metal, before flowing over his arms and legs, taking the form of simple metal gauntlets and boots.

"If Harry wants to fully win over the pack, he must prove _himself_ strong enough to command their respect." Isis stated. "A weapon, especially a long one, gives him far greater reach than he would naturally have. Fighting with his fists however, even if they are armoured, removes that advantage."

"How many hell hounds are there in a pack?" Fate asked nervously, as she saw several more shadows converge on the first one she had caught sight of.

Loki reached inside his coat and withdrew a small notebook. After flicking through it for a moment, he answered the blonde girl. "According to the books Harry found, a hell hound pack is usually no less than five, and rarely more than two dozen."

Fate looked away from Loki to focus on Harry, who was, for his part, managing to hold his own against the hell hounds. They weren't literally shadows, but they could travel through 'the darkness that is their lair', and they could attack him from all angles when they emerged from their shadows.

He ducked under one of them, throwing a punch into its gut as it went over his head. Twisting, he dodged one that had come from his side. A third one that had come from behind caught him and raked its claws down his back. Thankfully, his Combat Equipment managed to keep Harry's flesh from being lacerated.

Dodging between two hounds, Harry span on one foot, his body falling into a fighting stance. It was lower to the ground than a regular stance was, with him almost crouched on the ground. He had one arm in front of him, ready to defend, and the other to his right, ready to strike.

Kicking off hard from the ground, he rolled to the left, before throwing a punch right in the face of a hell hound, and then using the momentum from the demon to spin around and throw a kick to the neck area of another hound, throwing it away from himself.

CRUNCH!

Harry gasped as his left arm flared with pain. He'd missed one hell hound which now had its jaws around his left arm and had partially _crushed_ his magically reinforced gauntlet with the strength of its bite. Throwing a quick jab at it to dislodge the hell hound, Harry backed away to check the damage he'd taken.

xxxxx

Fate gasped when she heard the Hell Hounds jaws close around Harry's arm. The raw strength needed to do that was unbelievable! Devices, all ones meant for military or law enforcement purposes at least – which Harry's was – were made of a hyper-dense alloy that could take immense amounts of purely physical damage and shrug it off, and even magical damage was blunted.

These Hell Hounds were, for lack of a better term, wild beasts, and they had the power to crush a device like a tin can? That was really, _really_ scary, and not something she was likely to share with anyone else. She did _not_ want anyone to get it into their head to summon a horde of these creatures and set them loose on somewhere like Mid-Childa.

The casualties if someone were to do that didn't bear thinking about.

To distract herself, Fate focused on the Hell Hounds themselves. When she'd first heard the term 'hell hound', she'd been expecting a large, solidly built dog, something along the lines of a Doberman, a Mastiff, or maybe even a Labrador. However, the Hell Hounds that Harry was currently fighting looked more like Greyhounds.

Granted, they didn't look _exactly_ like Greyhounds, but they had the same general body shape. On top of that, instead of hair, they were scaled, and their prehensile tails appeared to have a stinger in the end. Their heads were also slightly reptilian in shape too.

She watched anxiously as Harry fought the pack of Hell Hounds, and judging by how Loki, Isis, and Bast were shifting from foot to foot, she wasn't the only one who wanted to jump in there and give him a hand. Why was he even fighting with a handicap to begin with? He was one where there were at least five of them. He wasn't using any of his magic. Heck, he wasn't even using a weapon. How was this a fair fight?

A yell drew her attention as she saw Harry almost snap a demon's back over his knee before kicking it away. This time, however, rather than getting back up, the Hell Hound shuffled off to one side and laid down to watch its fellows continue the fight while it nursed its rapidly healing injuries.

Soon after, a second Hell Hound was out of the fight, followed by a third, and then a fourth. At this point, however, Harry was beginning to tire, and he wasn't dodging as easily as he was previously, resulting in him getting a set of shallow cuts across his face that began to bleed.

Two Hell Hounds tried to co-ordinate an attack on Harry from opposite sides. One of them went high, the other low, a classical tactic that the entire pack had been using to wear him down the entire fight. However, the thing about using a successful tactic repeatedly is that it gets _predictable_.

Jumping up, Harry twisted his body so he was above both of the Hell Hounds, before he slammed his heel down, smashing one demon into another, assisted by his own body weight. Yelps from the dogs told everyone that the Hell Hounds had been hurt by the manoeuvre, but still they got to their feet, as did Harry.

Before the fight could continue, however, one of the dogs let out a strange hissing bark, before looking around at the other Hell Hounds and making the noise again. The dogs that had given up fighting immediately responded with the same noise, but one of the ones who had yet to go down and stay out growled lowly at the first one.

What must have been some form of discussion began, though argument might be a better term, between the two. While Fate doubted it was as sophisticated as human languages were, it nevertheless seemed to get the point across, because after several minutes of back and forth, the rebellious hound chimed in with the same noise the others had made.

Harry sighed, his knees folding beneath him and sweat beading down his body. He gingerly reached up to touch the marks on his face and hissed at feeling the pain it caused. Damn, the wounds had been caused by Ira, Demonic Power, and would undoubtedly be a bitch to heal due to the corrosive nature of Ira. Still, it could be done, and if he could convince Fawkes to shed a few tears for him, he could come out of this without even any scarring.

On his knees, Harry removed the gauntlet-formed device from his left arm, taking a look at the purple and black bruising of his arm, and after quickly checking it for any particularly urgent injuries, presented it to the Hell Hounds. After a moment, the first one to surrender, and coincidentally the oldest, padded forward.

Opening its jaws, though not to full width, it bit down on Harry's arm. In response, Harry used magic to give himself a claw in place of a right hand and slashed at the hounds leg. Neither moved while the demon's mouth filled with Harry's blood, and Harry's clawed hand filled with its blood.

Once the hound appeared satisfied, and had let go of his arm, Harry brought his clawful of demon blood to his mouth and drank it down. He quivered and shook as the substance rolled over his tongue and down his throat. Coincidentally, it didn't taste as bad as he expected, though it did taste very 'heavy' and earthy.

"Loki, my bag please." Harry said, and was immediately rewarded with his raven companion handing it to him.

From within, he withdrew eight large slabs of greenish, unhealthy looking meat, before tossing them, one by one, to each of the Hell Hounds, who ripped into them with gleeful abandon.

"What are those?" Fate mumbled. "They don't look like normal bits of meat."

"They're dragon steaks." Harry told her. "Pretty expensive, but if it helps then it helps."

Harry got shakily to his feet, before glancing at Fate. "Now, do you want to go home, or do you want to try and find yourself a pack of Hell Hounds?" He asked.

Fate glanced at Harry's arm, where she could see a stylised claw emblem beginning to appear, and then to his completely bedraggled and beat up appearance.

Looking at the demons happily munching on a dragon's flesh, and the blood dripping from Harry's body, she made her decision.

xxxxx

Approaching Hogwarts castle, completely dishevelled, Harry and Fate made their way back. Both of them were sweaty, tired, hurt, and hungry right then. They didn't know what the matter truly was, but both of them had felt it was quite the experience going to the Underworld, and they felt… lighter because of it, like something they'd been obsessing over had suddenly become clear to them.

Of course, they probably should have known their introspection wouldn't have lasted when they made it back to the castle, only to come face to face with Filch the Caretaker looking spectacularly happy.

"Well, well, two students out of bed, and in such a state too." He cackled gleefully. "Oh, you'll be punished for this no doubt, and so late out as well. I'm sure someone will have some _questions _for you two."

Realising how dark it was, Harry thought they should probably have kept a better eye on the time too.


End file.
